Make Me Feel
by Stray the Metallic Imp
Summary: It's a SpiderMan Movie fanfic. It takes place after the 2nd one so it will hold spoilers.It has officialy turned to slash. This is a Doc Ock story and will guest star a OC who is the son of Batman. Ock and the teen will become strange partners in crime. C
1. Default Chapter

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: All of the Original characters do not belong to me. I only own the people you have never heard of. This story is based directly after Spider-Man 2. Spoilers contained do not read if you have not seen the second movie.

Notes: I'm posting this in the comics section because that is the only place where anyone will ever see it. Feel free to review, I would greatly appreciate it.

Chapter 1

Two days after the death of Otto Octavius a slight figure stood on the pier.

If you looked closer, you could see that the figure was a young girl. She seemed to be only about 15 or 16, and had many unique features. Her skin was a flawless white without a single mark or freckle. This flawless skin covered a thin yet well - curved body that was dressed in a dress only seen in pictures of ancient Greece. The dress appeared to be made of black silk with silver lining. A silver band was wrapped around her upper left arm and complemented her pale flesh. Her ears were long and had sharp tips, ears you would see in a picture of an elf or faerie. Her hair was a soft looking obsidian black and only reached to the top of her breasts. Her hair had silver streaks in many places including her right bangs. She had very narrow features including high cheekbones and narrow face. Her eyes seemed to match the rest of her coloring for her iris were deep black with silver rims that were nearly unnoticed, she had thick and long eyelashes that added a great accent to her eyes. All in all, she was absolutely ethereal in beauty.

She stood looking down into the water with a saddened but loving expression. Slowly, she opened her mouth and began to recite.

"_A pure soul will die only to be risen once more._

It is destined that that soul shall be sought out by the

Child that cannot feel and become a guardian. The Guardian

shall spend twelve full moons with the child until the child

becomes a man and has been taught how to feel. Then only

will both souls be joined together and live together once more

together in love and in feeling."

Her voice was like a sweet chime and rang out over the lapping river and she slowly raised both of her arms so that they stood straight out in front of her with her palms facing the water. She closed her beautiful eyes and her soft lashes rested on her milky skin.

For a moment everything was perfectly still and the only sound was of the water and cars from the nearby city.

Then the water began to ripple.

As the ripple began to increase and the water became choppy and disturbance seemed to take place in the atmosphere. The air seemed to be alive and buzzing, nearby seagulls and pigeons grew agitated and took flight. The wind began to pick up and the air steadily grew colder, inflicting a harsh bite.

The girl began to become tense and was giving all of her energy into her task.

Then a form rose from the water and was suspended in the air. It hung limp and dripping water, four robotic limbs hung out of the back of a torn and soggy trench coat. The body then began to drift toward the beautiful girl's raised and open arms.

The girl opened her lovely eyes and focused on the body coming towards her. When it finally reached her instead of embracing it she lowered her arm slowly and the body was lowered down in front of her and was laid onto the pier floor in front of her bare feet.

She looked down at the mans form and kneeled down. Her face carried the look a mother wears as they watch a sick child sleep.

She brushed the wet bangs from the dead mans face with her hand in a loving gesture. She leaned down and touched her lips to his cold dead forehead and pulled back. On the spot where she had kissed him was a pale silver mark of her lips. It slowly faded into the mans skin and something amazing happened.

He took a breath.

Smiling sweetly she stood up and took one last look at the now living man. She walked away making no sound and seemed to fade into thin air.

Her job was done, now it was time for nature to take it's course.

End of Chapter

Well, there it is. For warning this is a slight kind of cross over with Batman. Kinda. You'll see what I mean. And if you are curious, yes this will eventually turn into a slash story. But not for a good while.

Please review,

Stray-


	2. The Child

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own the people you have never heard of. That's all that I have.

Notes: I would like to thank Repto for reading and reviewing and anybody else who actually read it. You all make me feel special.

Chapter 2

11:49 p.m. at the Emerald Ballroom Nightclub in Gotham City.

The club was crammed full of moving teenage bodies all moving to the blaring dance music. Many were underage and were buzzed, tipsy, or drunk on alcohol.

One of these teens was none other than Zachary Wayne son of the Late Bruce Wayne who had mysteriously died two years prior.

Zachary was a perfect combination of his mother and father. He had his father's rich black hair, only his was a bit shaggier and bangs fell into his eyes. He had inherited his mother's sea foam green eyes but his were a bit icier, not in a cold way, just in color. He stood fairly tall at 5'10" and was both lean and muscular at the same time. His skin was a light healthy peachy color and he had his father's charming smile. He was expected to grow even more handsome because he was still only seventeen and still had some growing and maturing ahead of him. His mother enjoyed joking that she believed it to be impossible for him to get any more handsome.

At the age of thirteen Zachary had discovered that if you're the heir of a billionaire you could go anywhere with no questions asked. This became a great advantage to him, so that he could walk straight into 21 and over clubs without batting an eyelash.

By this time he was already half drunk on rum and coke and was dancing amongst the other teens and various collage students on the dance floor. The lights were mostly dim colored lighting used to enhance the mood and it worked well. Somewhere through the daze of alcohol and colored lights Zachary began to feel his left arm grow numb. He ignored it for awhile dismissing it as a result from being drunk, but about ten minutes later he began to grow worried. His worry sprouted when a girl bumped into his arm, and he didn't even feel it.

Winding his way through the crowd he made his way towards the men's restroom. He bumped into many people and felt a sick worry every time he felt nothing in his left arm. He finally made it and pushed the swinging door open and walked in. It was slightly dirty with only three toilet stalls and a row of urinals up against one wall. There were three sinks with one long mirror hanging directly over all three of them.

Zachary had been wearing a long sleeved pin striped shirt with buttoned cuffs with expensive black jeans. He unbuttoned his left cuff and rolled up the sleeve. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open in a silent gasp. Almost his entire forearm was stone gray. He tentatively touched the gray skin and was horrified to find that not only was it stone gray, it was actually stone. He looked over the entire arm and found that along with the one large patch of stone skin, other smaller patches were clustering.

He looked quickly around the restroom and was relieved to see that he was the only one in the room. He took one last look at his stone arm and moved it. Slightly glad to see that he could move it just fine he rolled down his sleeve and re-buttoned his cuff.

Moved out of the dirty restroom and began winding his way through the dancing crowd once more. He held his arm close to his chest and was almost expecting someone to point at him from the crowd and yell, "He's turning to stone!" He finally got through after having to resort to shoving people out of his way and went out the exit and into the parking lot. He looked around and was relieved when his chauffeur pulled up in a black sedan. He got in and looked up at the driver, "Take me home Mason." He said firmly. Mason nodded and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

The drive took about 35 minutes to get back to the Wayne Estate. Zachary was nervous for every moment.

When he arrived home he got straight out of the car and went straight into the Mansion. He went through the various halls and corridors until he reached his destination. He went up to the old grandfather clock and opened it. Instead of seeing the inside of a large clock there was a long stone-carved staircase. He stepped inside and closed the secret door behind himself. He carefully walked down the stairs feeling along the wall until he felt a light switch and he flipped it on.

He stepped down into the Batcave and looked around with a small sense of pride and sadness. His mother, little sister and him had known about his father's secret and had always held pride in their hearts knowing he was a hero.

Two years ago he had come back from a major fight with three bullets in his chest and he had died half an hour later. His mother and beloved Alfred had cleaned him up and made it look as if it had never happened. As far as the public knew, Bruce Wayne had died from a deadly over night disease. Zachary and his little sister Emily, who was now fourteen, had always made themselves feel better by telling themselves their father had died a hero.

Zachary approached the large computer and turned it on while carefully punching in the correct code. He then started looking up his entire life's medical history. He couldn't find anything. His entire life was filled with small broken bones, ear infections, and the occasional common cold or flue. Nothing that would explain why he was turning to stone.

Just as he was about to give up he found something. It was a newspaper article written the day after he had been born. It went into detail about a crazy male nurse in the maternal ward of the hospital he had been born in. The nurse had been caught injecting experimental chemicals and serums into newborns. It said that the newborns in that section had been tested and had been given cures to the 'mutation' serum.

Zachary looked down at his arm and scowled. "Looks like they missed one." He thought out loud. He grew agitated and shut down the computer and left the cave. He went into his room, stripped down to his boxers and feel into a fit full sleep.

He attempted to live as normally as possible over the next few days and made sure to wear long sleeves. But apparently his 'mutation' didn't wish to listen. After a couple weeks his entire left hand and forearm had turned into living stone. Panic and nerves began to set in and he stopped sleeping at night. He couldn't eat as well and he started having strange thoughts. He had quickly found out that his stone arm was about 10 times stronger than his human one. The thought that he could kill a man with one punch to the head came to his mind.

The thought both scared him and thrilled him at the same time.

One night he came to the sudden decision that he was going to leave. He got up packed some of his clothes into a back-pack and left the house. He had put on a charcoal colored trench coat and the black leather glove he had started wearing on his stone hand.

He took his cell phone and called up a private jet company and hired them to take him to New York City.

No questions were asked.

It was a fairly good flight and his heart seemed to be beating up in his throat the entire length of time. When he arrived in New York he left the airport without any incident. He walked out into the early morning darkness and walked down a street. He looked around at the different stores and shops and saw a magazine and news paper stand not far up ahead of him. As he walked by he just picked a paper and kept walking. The guy behind the stand didn't even notice. He looked at the title of the paper and noticed that it was called the 'Daily Bugle'. The cover shot showed a man in a long trench coat and dark sun glasses. There were four robotic tentacles coming from an opening ripped into the back of the coat and he looked down right scary. The headline said '**Doc Ock is Back!**'

One thought entered Zachary's mind.

"I have to meet this man."

End of Chapter

Well, what do you think?? It took me forever to write this so I hope it was worth it. In the next chapter these two guys are going to meet and complete the second part of the Beautiful Girl's prophecy. Hope you like, Please review!!

Stray-


	3. The Meeting

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I own the people you have never heard of. It's that simple and easy. Thank you.

Notes: I would like to thank Repto for once again reading and reviewing. I would appreciate anything that anyone has to say and am fully willing to hear it. Questions, suggestions, and flames are all welcome. Thank you for reading. You make me feel special.

Chapter 3

Zachary had been in New York City for a little over a week now, and he had still not been able to meet Doc Ock. During this period of time he had decided to do some research on the man, and was amazed by everything he managed to read and learn. Everything he managed to learn fueled his desperate need to meet this man, while it would most likely stop anyone else dead in his or her tracks.

The thought that this man might be able to find a way to cure or stabilize his own condition had struck him and the thought still lingered in his young and confused mind. He didn't want to approach the man and ask him to cure him, that would just seem…rude and possibly heartless. No, that wasn't what he wanted to do. This man, Doc Ock, Otto Octavius, whatever he was supposed to be called, he just…called to Zachary. It just felt to Zachary, that if he did not meet this man, he would never seem complete. He couldn't describe the feeling in words; there was no possible way to. It was so complicated and so simple that it was impossible to truly understand it.

During this stretch of time Zachary's 'problem' seemed to be continuing to spread. Small flakes and patches seemed to be appearing on the upper part of his left arm and his shoulder. He noticed that the patches would start out small and start to grow until they reached another patch and joined it. At some point Zachary had started to think of it as a stone rash. A rash that left no feeling in the areas it grew. But he also began to notice the stone areas not only were stronger, they were also resistant. The stone skin could not be cut, bruised, burned, or even smashed. He at some point became curious to exactly how strong it really was and wandered into an alley. While in the alley he turned to one of the brick walls and used his stone arm to punch it as hard as possible. If he had used his human arm, his hand most likely would have broken every bone. But in this case, he punched a hole straight into it and it started to create cracks going in every direction. Like what happens when you break a glass windshield of a car. He had quickly run off, not wanting to be caught by anyone for inflicting such damage to an innocent wall.

Finally Zachary's chance came just a few days after the wall incident. He had been walking down a large public city street to the library to do more research. He had been just down the street from a local bank when one of the front walls seemed to explode open. Huge chunks of concrete and glass flew everywhere and people on the street went insane with panic and fear. Everyone began running in the opposite direction of the bank, people shoved passed others and screaming and crying from small children could be easily heard.

A figure came stalking out of the hole in the wall and Zachary froze when he saw the figure had four mechanical tentacles whipping around behind its back. Two of the tentacles clawed tips clutched a large moneybag each.

People went running and screaming passed him, but Zachary didn't seem to notice. His attention was focused on Doc Ock. Zachary was shook from his daze when a red and blue figure came swinging down from a nearby skyscraper. The figure and Doc Ock immediately became engaged in battle and Zachary was the only person still close enough to see them. All of the other pedestrians had migrated to safer ground.

During his research Zachary had come across Spider-Man many times but his attention had always remained on Doc Ock. For some reason he didn't find any interest in the Spider, and he wasn't even sure why. For some reason the bug just didn't seem to call to him.

He continued to watch the two men duke it out, with an array of web slinging and tentacles slashing. He then noticed they were continuing to go higher up the sides of the buildings and Zachary knew he needed to keep up with them if he was going to be able to approach Ock.

He scanned the surrounding area to see if there was anyway he could get to the top of a building quick enough. All he could find was a fire escape on the side of a building but that would have to do for him at the time. It took him a moment to be able to raise himself up onto the damned thing, but when he did manage he took no time at all to begin going up the metal stairs as quickly as his legs would allow him.

By the time he made it to the top he was out of breath and incredibly tired but he only stopped to breathe for a quick moment. He feared he might have taken to long scaling the side of the building and went around the top until he caught sight of the two battling men. Both seemed to be wearing down and nether seemed to be willing to call it a draw. Zachary continued to watch them fight for another ten or fifteen minutes and was relieved to see them finally part ways for the time being.

Doc Ock began to make his way over to the building Zachary was on and had yet to notice the young boy. Zachary literally threw himself to the stone floor and hid behind the short stone ledge. He held his breath every time the building shook as the 'villain' used his extra limbs to climb up the side. Zachary hunkered down as much as he possibly could without fusing with the rough stone ground.

It was a good thing he did so because less than a second after he did, Doc Ock came over the ledge and onto the roof. He sailed straight over the boy without even seeing him and continued on his way after lowering himself onto his own human legs. With his back still turned he walked across the roof and as he approached the center of the rooftop Zachary decided it was time that he made his move before he lost the chance forever.

He licked his dry lips and he could feel his heart beat better than he could ever remember. Taking a deep breath he gathered his nerve and he spoke.

"That was amazing."

The older man whipped around and looked at him almost startled. All four of his tentacles raised above his head and turned to 'look' at him. Two still held the moneybags and the other two opened their claw like heads and Zachary could see red lights in side. They looked like eyes, and they were staring at him.

"What are you doing, where did you come from?!"

The older man seemed enraged that he had failed to notice the teenager's presence. The two tentacles that had opened their heads seemed to leer at him.

Zachary sat up slowly from his hunkered down position but he did not stand. He could tell the other man was edgy and weary and he didn't want to give him a reason to lash out at him.

"I watched the fight. You were amazing. I wanted a chance to meet you in person. Sir."

Zachary kept a close eye on the older man's body language. He waited to see if there was any sign the man might try to assault him. He had thrown in the 'sir' because he felt it be best he was as respectful as possible.

The other man frowned in thought for a moment and Zachary could see he had mixed emotions. He wasn't sure what they were, but he suspected it had to do with the unexpected praise.

The other man looked at him from behind his dark glasses and seemed to think over his words for a moment.

"Are you aware of what I'm capable of doing to you?"

"Yes."

Zachary didn't even have to give his answer any thought at all. He was fully aware of what the man could do to him, but for some reason he either didn't care, or wasn't scared. He wasn't even quite sure which it was.

The older man raised an eyebrow and seemed to be unsure what he was supposed to think.

"And you're not scared?"

The idea this could possibly be a trick question came to Zachary's mind. If he answered no, the other man might become offended or it would hurt his pride. If he answered yes, he was frankly unsure of what might happen.

"Well, part me is. I know you could kill me in horrible way on spot. But, the other part just…I don't know. It just… insists that I have to know you. I can't really explain it. I know that you might be the only person who might understand what's happening to me without any fear or disgust."

Zachary could only shrug after what he said. But it seemed he had managed to peak the other man's interest. He knew that Ock was a scientist and he was fully aware that scientists love to figure things out. He could already tell that the man in front of him was no exception.

"And what pray tell, would be happening to you that would result in such rejectful reactions?"

Zachary could here the curiosity that had managed to leak into the older man's voice. He had the man's attention and he was a bit more relaxed. This was definitely a good thing.

Zachary slowly pushed himself onto his knees and stood up. He didn't want to make any threatening movements. He removed his trench coat and then the long sleeved black shirt he was wearing. His black leather glove soon followed after.

He saw the other man's eyes go wide behind his dark sunglasses and the two tentacles holding the money set their load down. The other man swiftly walked over to Zachary without saying a single word. He took the boy's left arm with his human hands and the robotic arms came around to watch as Ock began to study the arm and everything attached to it.

Zachary felt a sharp pang in his chest when he noticed he couldn't feel the other man's hands unless he touched and area without his stone rash.

Ock was completely absorbed in his examination his face carried a look that a child might have if they had just found something they thought was one of a kind and spectacular.

Ock snapped out of his study of the stone limb when he remembered that it was attached to the young man standing in front of him. He looked up at Zachary and his face didn't seem to show any real emotion. Just the look someone will have if they are suddenly fascinated by something.

"How long has it been like this?"

He sounded, to Zachary, exactly like a doctor trying to make a diagnosis.

"About a month. It started out as a couple patches on my arm, but then it started spreading. It's weird; I can move it just fine without any problem. But I don't have any feeling in it whatsoever."

Ock nodded his head as he listened to Zachary speak and he glanced up at the kid's face when he mentioned that he had no feeling in the stone areas.

"None?"

He looked almost skeptical at the idea.

Zachary nodded. "None. I tried everything. It's also, like, ten times stronger and resistant. I tried cutting it, burning it, smashing it, but I didn't feel anything and it stayed perfectly intact."

The older man seemed to think something over and came to a decision. He finally released Zachary's arm and took a step back while looking at the boy's face.

"I think it might be best if you were to come with me. I would like to run some tests and look into this. Being a doctor I am curious and think it would be in your best interest to come with me. But I'll warn you, you will have to do something for me to have my full services."

Zachary stopped and thought for a moment.

"What would I have to do?"

The older man looked at him and gave a small chuckle in the back of his throat.

"Nothing extreme. You'll just have to stay and work for me."

For some strange reason the catch didn't phase Zachary one bit. It actually made him quite happy. He took a quick look at the older man's face and a small smile worked its way onto his face. He held his hand out in front of him and his smile grew into a grin.

"Sir, you have yourself a deal."

Ock also began to grin and firmly shook the young man's hand. This time it was the human one, and Zachary was pleased he could feel the older man's touch.

"Good, now redress yourself and I'll take you to your new living quarters."

Zachary was more than happy to comply and allowed himself to be picked up and transported by his new guardian.

End of Chapter

Hope you all like it. Please review. I don't even know what I'm going to put into the next chapter. Thanks for reading!

Stray-


	4. The Examination

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own the people you have never ever heard of. I own nothing else…blah…blah…blah.

Notes: Thank you DocOcksGirl31, Pirate Goddess, blaze deverox and Selene for your awesome reviews. The more people tell me that they like it, the more I'm driven to continue this story. Thank you so much for the support.

Chapter 4

Zachary had come dangerously close to pissing himself during the trip to Doc Ock's hideout. He was hundreds of feet off of the ground being held by nothing but one of the metallic tentacles sticking out of the older man's back and every time he was jerked around he thought he might lose it.

He never was able to see the outside of the actual hideout because the other man ordered him to shut his eyes for that. Apparently he would have to earn his trust and that didn't bother Zachary one bit. His father had been Batman after all, he was fully aware of trust issues.

When he was finally allowed to open his eyes he saw that he must be in some kind of storage facility. At least that was what must have originally been. It was pretty much the inside of a warehouse that had collapsible walls put up to make different rooms. The part he was currently in seemed to be a make shift living area. A worn sofa, table, lamp, television, had all been spread around somewhat awkwardly and rushed.

Zachary realized that the other man was watching him with a studying expression on his face and Zachary remembered that they may have now met, but they had yet to be fully introduced. Coming from an Elite Class home, Zachary was very aware of the importance of being respectful and polite to your respectful adults.

"I'm sorry," He started using a polite tone, "I just realized that we haven't been correctly introduced."

He offered the man a his charming smile and tried to not seem like an idiot trying to act well brought up but was really a teenage pot smoker from the lower middle class suburb.

The other man continued to study him for a moment longer. The money had been set down in a corner and the four heads of the tentacles were watching him closely. At least, he thought that they were watching him closely. Or at least watching him.

Slowly a small smile spread onto the older man's face. He seemed to be amused by Zachary's behavior and almost curious. He walked towards the young man and continued with his small-amused smile. In truth, the young man in front of him fascinated him.

As he approached the boy he was secretly pondering over and studying every thing he so far could tell about the boy. He could see he was definitely young, no more than sixteen or seventeen. He seemed to carry a strong energy around him and also seemed to have a perfectly stable temperament. Also seemed to be very smart and aware of the reality around him.

"Yes, I believe you are right. We haven't been introduced. Let's remedy that, shall we? I am Dr. Otto Octavius. But I believe the public has quickly come to know me as Doctor Octopus. Or, Doc Ock, if you will."

Zachary smiled a little more; this was definitely going very well. This greatly relieved him and made him feel a little bolder.

"Zachary Wayne. It is a great honor to meet you Sir. I look forward to working for you."

Ock chuckled at that and was quickly finding that he liked this boy. He had an attitude that was very appealing to have for company. He seemed to have been brought up well, and even though he acted extremely polite, Ock could see the sharp intelligence and wit in the boy's eyes.

When he reached the boy he put his human hand on the boy's shoulder blade and began steering him into another direction. Zachary followed without any protest and continued to take this as an extremely good sign.

"Tell me Zachary, where are you from?"

"Gotham City, Sir."

Ock nodded and gave a short bark of laughter.

"You may drop the 'sir' now, my dear Zachary. We are on speaking terms are we not? You may call me Dr. Octavius."

Seeing the young man's nod he continued with his conversation.

"Now, Gotham aye? Home of Batman, am I right?"

He was right of course. And it gave Zachary an ache deep in his chest to think of his late father. He paused a moment before answering the older man and decided upon something.

"Yes, but he's dead."

The other older man looked over at the teenage boy and raised an eyebrow.

"And you know this how?"

Zachary swallowed the lump that had just grown in his throat. He looked down at his feet as they walked and after a few moments, he answered.

"He was my father."

His strong voice had come out hushed and he continued to look down at his feet. The older man paused for a moment and was obviously surprised. Even someone as brilliant as himself hadn't been expecting that. Zachary glanced up from his feet and at the older man's face and saw his 'I'll be damned' expression.

Octavius cleared his throat and tried to continue the now awkward conversation.

"Well, that was unexpected. May I ask how he died?"

Finally looking up all together, Zachary frowned for a moment. But after taking another glance at the other man, he sighed and answered.

"He had been called into action when Two-Face and a ton of his goons were stealing experimental chemicals and acids from a factory down-town. It was a huge fight, and he stopped them. But near the end of the fight some of the acid was thrown at him and onto his chest .It melted his chest armor and three bullets got him just before he left. He died not long after he got home."

Zachary stared ahead as they walked. Ock had listened fully and quietly and was nodding his head slowly in understanding.

"Yes, I can understand your pain. During the biggest moment of my life I had been working on a nuclear fusion that could have helped the world more than anything had. Spider-Man arrived and ruined the experiment. Thanks to him, my loving wife Rosie was killed and these limbs," He motioned to the four robotic arms. "were permanently fused to my spine. If they were to be removed, I would either be paralyzed from the neck down or be killed."

Zachary felt two emotions bubble up in him. It was sympathy and anger. He could hear the grief and anger in the other man's voice and it filled him completely with sympathy and anger. Sympathy because this man had lost more than he ever had. He had lost his love, his life, and worst of all, his ability to be a person. Even if he had chosen to continue his life as a normal person, he never would have been accepted. Like Zachary would never be accepted after he fully turned into a living statue with no feeling.

He felt the anger for Spider-Man. If he hadn't shown up then Doctor Octavius would still have his life.

"That's horrible. If I had been there I would have stopped that bug."

There was a strange bitterness in Zachary's voice. He couldn't remember ever hating the thought of someone this much.

"Yes, but that is the past and this is now. And now, my dear Zachary, I need to ask you some questions and do a full examination of your…ermm…condition."

Zachary hadn't been paying attention to where they had been going and now he saw that they were in some kind of lab. In the center of the room was a metal examining table and there were cupboards and counters covered and full of all kinds of equipment.

Zachary nodded and answered "Alright."

Octavius looked pleased and started to explain and give small orders.

"Good, now I'm going to need you to strip completely and hop up on the examining table for me. I'm going to start out with some questions and a few routine tests."

Octavius had officially switched into full doctor mode and was ready to get down to business. Zachary nodded and complied even though he was uncomfortable with being completely naked in front of an older man he had just met. But, he decided it could be worse. For example, he could have been a girl.

Feeling somewhat self-conscious he stripped and set his bundled up clothes on a chair. Octavius had his back to him and was preparing what looked like a clipboard and a tray of small tools. Zachary last of all removed his socks and went to sit on the metal table. It was very cold; he had no choice but to admit that.

As he waited he looked around and upon looking down he froze. There was a small spot of stone rash on his chest. He had been checking himself every day and he was sure that that spot had not been there when he had gotten up that morning.

He was snapped out of his stare when Ock finally came over and took his left arm into his large hands.

For the next two hours he was questioned, poked, prodded, and all sorts of stuff. He was sure that if this had been some other guy in a house the man would have been arrested for molestation.

Zachary at the beginning must have seemed more tense then he thought that he had. Because when Octavius had him stand up so he could do an examination of his full body, the older man had stopped, sighed, and looked Zachary right in the face.

"I know this must be extremely uncomfortable and odd to you but you need to relax and trust me. I know I'm supposed to be an evil super villain but I assure you I'm not going to harm you, or rape you or any of that nonsense. I am a Doctor, Zachary. And as a Doctor I can assure you I'm doing this for your sake and for the sake of anyone like you. I'm not a freak who does this to young boys so he can get his kicks and be perverted. Now, please try to relax."

Zachary had tried to be as relaxed as possible after that and apparently he did well, because there were no more lectures after that. Actually, Octavius barely talked the entire time. He would mostly just ask the occasional question and mutter and mumble scientific mumbo jumbo under his breath.

The worst part of the entire examination had to have been when Octavius had ordered him to lay down on the table and spread his legs. Zachary's eyes had nearly jumped straight out of his eye sockets. But he had managed to get through it with only jumping a couple times and having his face turn beat red. When he had been told to sit back up he had seen Octavius's face when he had turned away shaking his head and Zachary was silently fuming when he caught the amused look on the older man's face.

When it was all over he was allowed to redress and he decided to leave off the coat and glove while he was still in the building.

"I'll try to make you your own room soon. Until I can set one up you can stay on the couch in the first room you saw earlier. Since you admitted to not having much sleep recently, I'm going to give you a sedative so you'll be fully rested tomorrow. You're going to be coming out with me then."

Zachary didn't ask any questions and simply nodded his head. He watched as Octavius mixed a spoonful of white powder into a glass of tap water. He then followed Octavius back to the room he would stay in. Octavius handed him the glass and said, "Don't drink this until you're already on the couch. You have to drink it all together. I'm going to go work on some plans, so I will see you when I wake you up tomorrow."

He then left to work on whatever his plans were and Zachary sat down on the couch. He looked at the glass of foggy colored water and gave a slight shrug. Plugging his nose he downed the contents of the glass in one long gulp. He sat the glass down on the floor and suddenly everything was very heavy and blurry. He fell back onto the couch and was asleep the moment his head hit the end pillow.

End of Chapter

OK, there it is. Hope you all like it. I'll update as soon as I have an idea. So…please review!!!

Stray-


	5. Encounter

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own the people that you have never heard of. I own nothing else, blah…blah…blah…

Notes: OMG! So many reviews! Thank you **mythical gurl**, **Moon Avenger**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Repto**, **Pirate Goddess**, and **Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon**. You like me! You like me! Thank you so much for reviewing. I love you all.

Chapter 5

Octavius walked into his makeshift living room to rouse Zachary from his sedative induced sleep. He stopped short to study the sleeping teenager with an amused expression on his face.

The boy had at some point during the night curled up on his side with his face pressed almost entirely into the cushion. His right arm was sticking out above his head and dangling over the edge of the couch. The left was pulled up under his chest. He was breathing deeply and small flickers of movement danced underneath his closed eyelids. His dark bangs fell into his face and added to the young man's boyish appearance.

Ock was truly amazed by this boy. He had so much potential and so many resources and yet he had decided to seek out the dreaded Doc Ock just for the chance to meet him. Octavius had sat thinking for nearly an hour after the boy had fallen a sleep the night before. He had an idea of what might happen to the boy if he continued to change as he currently was. And it was going to take quite a bit of research and work to remedy the problem. Until he was sure, he wasn't going to tell the boy what the results of his mutation might be. No need to get the child all riled up.

Shaking his head Octavius walked up to the boy and shook his shoulder. Zachary mumbled something and attempted to return back to the dream he had been having. Growing even more amused by the boy's childish attempt at peace Octavius shook him harder.

"Zachary, time to wake up."

Hearing his name Zachary opened his eyes half way and looked up at the older man with sleepy eyes. His eyes were almost cloudy with sleep and for a moment he looked confused. He lifted his head and looked around still looking confused and then an 'oh, now I remember' look passed onto his face.

"What time is it?"

He asked reaching a hand up to rub the sleep from his eyes. He stopped short and looked at his stone hand and scowled. He sat up and switched to his right hand letting the stone left fall into his lap.

"It's a quarter after nine." Octavius said glancing at his wristwatch.

Zachary mumbled something and yawned.

"It feels like you woke me up at four in the morning."

Octavius chuckled at that.

"That's the sedative you took. You'll wake up better after you've had something to eat."

Even while partially sedated Zachary visibly perked up to attention at the mention of food. He gave the older man a 'food! where is it!' look. He stared up at the older man clearly waiting. His eyes looked a little less sleepy and the frosty pastel green irises were a bit clearer even while the pupils were still dilated.

Octavius continued to be clearly amused. He had been an only child and his dear Rosie and him had never had children. To see the boy's antics was very amusing and rather refreshing at the same time for him. He found it amazing that the boy could have been through so much and be so smart while retaining his childlike innocence and naive attentions.

Chuckling he lightly shook his head and glanced back at the young man.

"Get up. We are going out and I need to get some things. I ran out of rations yesterday, and need to stock up. Due to the fact there is now an extra mouth to feed, I'll be needing about twice as much as usual. We'll get you some breakfast while were out."

Zachary was clearly disappointed that he didn't get to eat right at that moment. He then raised an eyebrow as he thought of something.

"Eat while were out? You don't mean were just going to walk into Tim Hortans and order some food. They'll have a swat team on us before either of us can pick up a fork."

Octavius's amusement was growing by the moment. He found the young man's concern just added to his naïve ways.

"Don't worry about that. You'll understand what I'm going to do once we leave. Now get up so that we may leave."

Zachary gave the older man a weary look. He did get up as he was told, and paused a moment to stretch out some kinks that had worked their way into his back while he had slept. He paused another moment and had a look on his face that showed he was unsure of something.

Octavius was beginning to get a little irritated with the young man's slow attempt at getting up.

"What is it?" He said, some of his irritation leaking into his voice.

Zachary looked over at him clearly uncomfortable about something. He shifted around on his feet and looked at his stone hand.

"Do you think that I need to cover…this?"

He said gesturing to the gray appendage.

Octavius didn't say anything and instead walked over to the teenager. His four snake like limbs swung around to look at Zachary and started opening and closing the heads making small clicking noises. Two of the limbs shot forward and abruptly tore the black sleeves off of the boy's clingy long sleeved shirt.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

Zachary was extremely startled and shook up. For a moment he had thought the older man was attacking him. He looked down at his shirt that was now a tank top and then up at Octavius. The older man now had a 'cat ate the bird' look on his smug looking face.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of it. You should display it openly. Now everyone can see that you are different from them and that they are below you."

Zachary just continued to stare at him and looked down at himself. Small speckles of normal flesh could be seen high on his shoulder but everything going down was pure stone.

He looked at the older man and frowned for a moment but then it faded away. He brushed some black bangs out of his eyes, only to have them fall right back into their original place and sighed.

"Are we going or what?"

A cross between a smile and a smirk passed across the older man's face and he nodded.

"Yes, let's go."

30 Minutes Later

Octavius set Zachary down on the ground of the alley behind the Kroger. He then came down with the help of his extra limbs and set himself on his own human legs.

"I go to Krogers for my food inventory because they open at noon. That gives me plenty of time to get what I need and get out before anyone shows up for the morning shift."

Zachary nodded his head at the older man's words and waited.

Octavius turned to the back door and one of his tentacles went forward. The head opened and a small delicate looking tool stuck out and entered the keyhole. After a moment there was a small click and Octavius took hold of the doorknob and opened the door.

"I didn't know you could do that."

Zachary was looking at the other man with a look that said he was surprised, but that he was impressed.

Octavius just chuckled and said, "What, did you think I was just going to destroy the door and leave major evidence that I was here?"

Zachary didn't say anything in return and followed the older man into the stores back. Octavius immediately went to the security room and shut down the security systems and cameras. Entering the actual store he turned to Zachary.

"Go pick out a few things that you want. I'll get my things and the necessities."

After that he turned heel and went down some random isle.

Zachary stood still for a moment and a sudden childish giddiness entered him. He was getting to pick out what HE wanted. At home he had always been fed high-class fancy rich food that almost always came in small portions and bad flavor. At his twelve-birthday party his parents had served caviar and sushi shipped in from Japan. He was going to make the most of this as possible.

He spent the next ten minutes running from isle to isle packing his arms with pop-tarts, spagetti-o's and other fatty sugary kid stuff he had always heard of and never been allowed to have. Towards the end he had even pocketed a thing of super sour bubble tape just for the hell of it.

When he met back up with Octavius, the older man had already packed his things into a couple plastic bags and upon seeing Zachary's full arms flushed face and happy grin, all he could do to not burst into laughter was to bite his tongue.

"You are having to much fun."

Was the only thing that he could get out. He placed Zachary's items in a plastic bag and they left. Octavius fixed the security systems and shut off the lights just before exiting the door.

They continued on and Octavius dropped off their groceries on the roof of a building that was for sale. He explained that he always put them there so they didn't get in the way of his other errands and he always could come back on the way back to his hide out.

Everything was going just fine, until they were spotted by a certain bug. He had been swinging by and caught site of them and of course he had to come over since they weren't even doing anything wrong.

"Ock! What are you up to now!"

The bug had said as he swung over to them. He hadn't noticed Zachary who was still being held by a tentacle. Octavius lowered Zachary onto that current building rooftop.

"Just about to leave bug. Why don't you go away and catch something in your little web?"

Spider-Man seemed to take that as an invitation to fight. He launched himself at Octavius and the two began to battle.

((A/N: I'm so sorry, but I suck incredibly at fighting scenes. I'm going to do a little skip ahead thing so please don't kill me.))

About half an hour later on a shorter building rooftop Zachary watched with some interest. At some point the fight had been taken to the street. The Spider had tried to lead Octavius away but the older man hadn't fallen for it. Pedestrians had as usual run off but a few lingered in the broken walls of destroyed buildings.

Just as Zachary was starting to lose interest in the fight he saw a figure dressed in red and blue come sailing at him. His eyes bulged and he jumped out of the way as Spider-Man was knocked onto Zachary's current perch.

Getting back up he looked at the masked hero laying on the now slightly crumbled rooftop and walked over to him. The bug groaned and looked up at Zachary and froze.

"Who are you?"

He was obviously confused and then he turned and saw Zachary's stone arm.

"Holy…!"

Zachary looked at him and came to a very quick decision.

"Call me Granite."

"He works for me."

Zachary or now Granite turned and saw Octavius watching him with an almost proud expression.

"What, your taking advantage of little boy's with mutations now?"

Spider-Man said speaking with his voice full of sarcasm and anger.

Octavius chuckled darkly and smirked.

"Actually, he came to me. He wanted to meet me and I offered him a place to stay and help for his condition. He accepted entirely on his own. He's a smart boy."

Octavius didn't wait for the bug to answer. He picked up Zachary and they left while Spider-Man was still down, and thinking about Doc Ock's new partner in crime. A partner that was only a kid.

End of Chapter

Hey! Hope you all like it. This one really did take forever. I'm sorry if anybody thinks Ock is a little OCC in this chapter. I tried my best to make him seem normal. I'll update when I can, please review!!

Stray-


	6. Feelings and Names

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own the people that you have never ever heard of. That is all I got. Blah…blah…blah…

Notes: Wow! This is even more popular than I had first thought. Thank you **Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon**, **Selene, DocOcksGirl31**, **Repto**, **mythical gurl-JoeyW.fan**, and **Pirate Goddess** for your wonderful reviews! Zachary, Otto and I all loved them.

Chapter 6

After the encounter with Spider-Man Octavius picked up their groceries and transported himself and Zachary back 'home'.

Zachary had yet again been ordered to close his eyes before seeing the actual outside of the hideout. But he was still just fine with that. He was willing to let Octavius take, as much time to trust him as the older man needed.

Upon arriving Octavius immediately began walking in another direction with the bags of food without saying a single word. Zachary followed him and decided not to talk, figuring the other man was still worked up about the fight with Spider-Man. After a couple minutes Zachary found that Octavius had led him to the kitchen and was beginning to put the food away.

He turned and saw Zachary standing in the doorway and a small smile appeared on his face.

"We forgot to get breakfast. Are you hungry?"

Zachary's stomach answered the question for him by emitting a low gurgle. The boy's face flushed and a sheepish expression crossed his face. Octavius just chuckled and muttered "Teenagers." Under his breath.

He then pulled out a carton of eggs and a package of bacon along with a skillet, spatula, and two large plates.

"Go ahead and sit down. This will be done in a few minutes."

Zachary did as he was told and took a seat at the table. There were three chairs and he just grabbed a random one. He sat quietly and listened to the sizzle the eggs and bacon made as they cooked and caught the pleasant smell of the food. As he sat he noticed with some concern that the older man was walking with a light limp. It didn't seem very serious though, and he just brushed it off.

He looked up and smiled when Octavius came over to the table and sat two plates of bacon and eggs on the table and then sat down right across from Zachary. He pushed one of the plates in front of the young man and pulled the other towards himself. Silverware had been set onto the plates.

"So," Octavius started, "it's Granite now is it?"

Zachary looked up from his plate, a fork full of eggs less than two inches from his mouth.

"It was the first thing to come to my mind. At least it's better than 'Doctor Octopus'." He then pushed the eggs into his mouth. There had been a slight sarcastic emphasis on the name and there had been a teasing note in his young voice.

Octavius gave a slight huff at the boy's words and tried not to smile. But naturally he was failing miserably.

"Yes well, you need to remember I didn't pick my name. The newspapers did."

Zachary nodded his head as he chewed on a piece of bacon. After he managed to swallow he spoke again.

"I hope the bug passes on my name to the press. If he doesn't they'll come up with something cheesy. No offense Dr. Octavius, but if someone named me Doctor Octopus, I'd have them shot on sight."

The older man gave a slight snort of laughter and nodded his head.

"That's how I had felt when I had first found out. But I've come to find that Doc Ock isn't that horrible as long as you can pretend that you don't know what it's short for."

Zachary looked at the older man and saw the teasing glint in his brown eyes. He paused for a moment to take in the older man's appearance.

He was several inches taller than Zachary himself was but not nearly as skinny. He wasn't fat, just a little chubby around the middle. He had curly brown hair and brown almost sad looking eyes. Zachary found that the image of a basset hound had popped into his head. Strong facial features including nose and chin were obvious and fit perfectly into place. His face also seemed to be long but round at the same time. The man seemed to be in his mid to late forties but always seemed younger when he smiled. The four robotic tentacles were waving and curling around in the air behind him moving gracefully around and another image entered Zachary's mind. This time he thought of water snakes swimming around under water quietly and gracefully. All in all, Zachary decided that he was definitely a good-looking and attractive man, even could be good in bed.

Zachary nearly choked on his eggs but quickly recovered before the other man could notice and look up from his own plate.

Zachary had always been able to admit that some men were attractive to him but he had never considered himself to be gay. Before he had always passed it off as his wild and raging hormones getting the best of him. But he was seventeen now and he would have thought he should be out of it by now. Of course he knew this to be a total lie and knew his hormones would run wild until he was in his late twenties, if not longer.

But a single question forced it's way to the front of his mind.

Was he attracted to Doctor Octavius?

He couldn't be could he? The man was old enough to be his father. But, he had just thought that he was attractive. And he had been strangely driven just to meet the man.

"Zachary?"

He looked up at the other man and saw he was wearing a concerned look on his face.

"Are you all right Zachary? You just went from very pale to very flushed in the face. Do you feel all right?"

Zachary decided that he had some major thinking he needed to do. He stood up and pushed his chair in.

"I'm alright. I think I'm just going to lie down for awhile."

He didn't wait for the other man to answer and left the kitchen. He walked around for a little while and finally reached the small living room and went to lie down on the couch. He sat there with his eyes closed thinking about his feelings and eventually accidentally fell asleep.

End of Chapter

Hey there it is! I'm sorry that this one was shorter than usual. I had a really hard time trying to figure out what I should write about. This was the best I could come up with right now. I will try to do better on the next chapter. I hope Ock wasn't to OCC. I tried to do him the best I could. Thanks for reading, Please review!

Stray-


	7. The Truth

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own the people that you have never ever heard of before. That is all I have blah…blah…blah…

Notes: YAH!! You guys liked it again. I'm doing better than I thought that I would. Thank you **Pirate Goddess**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon**, **Repto**, **mythicalgurl-JoeyW.fan**, and **elvesmagic010** for all of your freakin' awesome reviews. I love you all for reading and reviewing, and I thank anyone else that is reading. I feel loved.

Chapter 7

Octavius sat quietly after Zachary's sudden departure.

He was silently wondering what could have suddenly gotten into the boy and he passed it off believing the young man was tired from the erratic morning he had just had. He quickly finished his breakfast and stood to take care of the mess. He winced as he felt the painful twinge in his lower right leg, a result of his battle with the insufferable pest. He quickly and silently took care of the dishes and went to go check on his young charge.

When he walked into the small excuse for a living room he saw with some amusement that the young man had fallen asleep. Instead being curled onto his side this time, he was laying out on his back with both hands resting lightly on his lower abdomen. His narrow face was resting against the back of the old couch and as always his dark bangs hung down in front of his closed eyes.

Octavius watched the steady rise and fall of the young man's chest and listened to his peaceful deep breathing. He knew that it was dangerous to have taken in the child so abruptly, for all he knew the boy might run off and tell the police where he was hiding. He had no possible way to be sure that what the young man had told him was the truth. But he could tell that the mutation the child was suffering from was real. And for some God only knows reason he wanted the boy to stay with him. Since he had lost his dearly loved Rosie he had had no one but his 'assistants' to keep him company. And Otto knew he was not completely 'cut out' for being a complete loner.

This young man seemed to be the answer for his lack of human interaction. He had to admit that he had been in a better mood since the boy had arrived than he had been for the last few months. Even the 'assistants' were comfortable with Zachary's presence and that amazed him to no end.

Taking one last look at the boy's handsome face he turned and went to his study. Upon arriving he sat down at the desk that was covered in folders, notes, blueprints, and a laptop computer that he had retrieved from his abandoned apartment. He had not bothered to retrieve many things for the condemned building on the river knowing full well that they would have been damaged in such a place. After he had found the warehouse he had been able to retrieve and steal more materialistic items to make it more comfortable.

One of his tentacles approached him with a cigar and another followed holding up a lit match. He took them gratefully and blew out the match after the cigar was lit. He leaned back and began thinking over what he would need to do to find a way to help Zachary while absently puffing on the cigar.

Research was an obvious factor. And he would need samples of the stone from Zachary. It would need to be analyzed extensively and thoroughly. He'd have to carefully monitor Zachary's outbreaks and keep track of every new patch as it appears and grows in size. Also need to keep a record of how quickly it spreads.

Octavius secretly doubted that he could cure the stone that had already grown. But he did believe that he could stop it from spreading entirely. He believed he knew what was going on with the stone. Zachary would be fine as long as the stone mutation didn't reach the brain. If it infected the brain than Zachary would cease functioning and literally be nothing more than a statue. In short, he would die and his body would remain intact as solid stone.

So what Otto needed to plan and work out was how to stop it from spreading that far. If he could find something that would stabilize it, it would stop. Zachary would still be part stone and wouldn't be able to feel anything in those areas but at least he would still be alive.

So all Otto needs is something to stabilize the condition and a way to get it into the body.

Octavius took a deep puff from his cigar and rubbed his temples.

He had a lot of work ahead of him. But for some reason, he didn't seem to mind a single bit.

End of Chapter

Sorry if it was a little short. I wanted to give you guys a look at what was happening in his head for a little while. Still have no idea of what to do next, but I will come up with something. Thank you so much for reading and please Review!!

Stray-


	8. Surprise

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own The Beautiful Girl and Zachary (a.k.a.: Granite). That is all I own I have nothing else. Blah…blah…blah…

Notes: Thank you peoples that read and reviewed! Thank you **Pirate Goddess**, **Taimy**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Selene**, **Moon Avenger**, **Seizure Squirrel** and **mythical gurl** for reading and reviewing. I would also like to thank anyone else that read it but did not review. I love you all but in a friend way because I'm not…you know…weird. I assure you I only drift after men.

Chapter 8

Octavius finished off his cigar and glanced at his wristwatch.

12:43 in the afternoon.

His thoughts drifted back to Zachary sleeping on that uncomfortable couch and he remembered he had yet to prepare the young man his own room. If the youth continued to sleep on that couch he would start to develop back pains and that is the last thing the 17 year old boy should have to worry about at this point.

A small smile graced the man's face as an idea formed in his brilliant mind and he pushed himself up out of his chair and headed towards his lab. The moment he walked in his tentacles went to work going through a few different drawers and small cabinets and prepared a small syringe and filled it one fourth of the way full with a mild sedative.

He plucked the small needle from his tentacle's claw with his hand and walked through the various small 'halls' and into his small living room. Zachary was still sleeping peacefully on his back and Otto quietly approached the sleeping youth. Steadily as possible he kneeled down and carefully pushed the remains of the boy's sleeve up onto his shoulder. Waiting a moment he watched for any sign the teenager might stir and was relieved when there was none. Carefully to not wake the young man he injected the sedative into the spot where his shoulder joined the base of his neck.

The boy flinched in his sleep but did not wake and thanks to the sedative now running through his blood stream he would not wake until he was woke by Octavius himself. Otto did this so the boy would not waken as he was leaving and returning to the warehouse over and over again.

He disposed of the now contaminated syringe and quietly left the warehouse.

He spent the next few hours trying to steal light pieces of furniture without being seen by the general public. He made many trips to and from the warehouse and made sure to only steal from stores that were not to far away from the actual hideout.

After about his third time of returning to the hideout he stopped and remembered that Zachary had been in town longer than just the time with him, therefore must have brought and left some of his belongings somewhere.

He had kneeled down next to the teen a second time and had to very carefully search through the young man's pockets. It had been very awkward but it had paid off because along with a wallet and half of a pencil he had found the card and room key to a motel.

He made a quick stop there and had been surprised by how little belongings the boy had brought with him. Just a backpack that had been stuffed as full as possible. He had just shrugged it off and made exactly two more stops before returning back to the hideout one last time.

He then spent the next forty-five minutes setting thing up and by the time he was done he was tired but very pleased by the results.

He then stopped in his office for another dearly needed cigar and a short rest. After he had relaxed and regained his strength (not to mention a quick stop to the lavatory) he then again returned to the place where Zachary was drifting in yet another sedative induced sleep.

He couldn't help but to pause and watch the youth sleep for a moment longer, but then forced himself forward and shook the boy.

A low groan was then heard and two bleary sleep filled eyes looked up at him. As always the black bangs were present and in their customary place in the boy's eyes. Only this time those eyes looked a little more…how do you say…_drugged _than usual.

"What.. izz it?"

Otto couldn't help but snicker at the younger man's annoyed and sleepy tone.

"Get up. I have a surprise for you."

The teenager visibly woke up at the word 'surprise' and rushed to stand up. The drug was still affecting him slightly though, and he stumbled. Otto pulled the boy up and wrapped his human arm around the boy's waist to keep his steady. But instead of releasing him when he was balanced, he kept his hold on the teen's waist so he was pulled up against the older man's side.

Keeping the said arm in place he half lead half pulled the young man with him and though slightly uncomfortable by the close contact, Zachary was still a little tired and let himself lean on the other man.

When they reached the destination, Otto flipped the light switch inside the dark room.

He grinned when he heard the younger man gasp and actually felt the intake of breath against his own body.

It was a fair sized room and pushed up against one wall was a black futon put into bed position. Two pillows with charcoal gray covers and matching blanket were set up. On another wall was a large gray painted chest of drawers and a matching desk and small bookcase were up against the opposite walls.

Next to the chest of drawers was a plain full-length mirror that was hung on the wall and a backpack was sitting on the floor next to the bed. It was fairly plain but that had been done purposely so it would be able to be decorated by the new owner of the room.

"Thank you."

Zachary's voice came out full of surprise and obvious shock.

Otto just chuckled and squeezed the young man's waist.

"Your welcome. Now, you're tired. Why don't you go to bed?"

Zachary just nodded and staggered forward. Octavius had paused before releasing the teenager's waist and watched the young man climb into his new bed and promptly pass out.

Chuckling he took one last look at the young man and turned off the light. He quietly shut the door and headed towards his own room. It had been a long day and he was quite tired himself.

End of Chapter

Hey! Hope that you all like it. I actually did think of this last night and I have an idea for tomorrow. Thank you for reading and Please Review!!

Stray-


	9. Issues

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own The Beautiful Girl and Zachary (A.K.A: Granite). I own nothing else but them. Blah…blah…blah…

Notes. Ya! I'm popular for the first and only time in my short American life! I would like to thank **elvesmagic101, DocOcksGirl31**, **mythical gurl**, **Repto**, **Moon Avenger, Seizure Squirrel**, and **Pirate** **Goddess** for all reading and reviewing. I will also thank anyone else that read but did not review. Thank you all so much!

Chapter 9

Zachary slowly began to come out of the heavy fog he had been drifting in for some odd hours. He was groggy and his eyes felt heavy, but he was more comfortable than he had been before. He wrapped his arms around his current pillow and buried his face into the linen cover. Groaning he opened his bleary eyes and waited for them to adjust to the darkness of the quiet room.

Memories of what had happened earlier presented themselves to him and he felt a smile twitch at the corners of his lips. The memory of the surprise was blurry but he remembered enough to know that the older man had really gone out on a limb for him to do something like this. At some point he would need to come up with a better thank you than just his words but at this point he wasn't sure what he could do for the other man.

Sighing he forced himself to get up from his comfortable futon bed made an effort to stand up. He wobbled for a moment and tried to get a hold of his bearings. He managed to navigate his way through the darkness of the room and felt along the wall for the door. He finally found it and grasped the doorknob in his hand.

He stepped out into the dark 'hallway' and noticed that everything was very quiet. He realized that he must have been asleep for quite some time and it must have turned to the late evening. By now he was awake enough to notice that his bladder was agreeing full heartily and he mentally slapped himself because he had absolutely no idea where the bathroom was.

He spent the next ten minutes on an extremely relevant search until he had finally located the dearly needed room. After relieving himself he checked his reflection and instinctively made an attempt to tame his bangs with his fingers. Only too naturally fail miserably.

He then left the lavatory and mentally made a note of its exact whereabouts for future reference.

He wandered the dark halls for awhile and enjoyed the pleasant quiet dark and calm atmosphere. He was sure that Doctor Octavius must have retired to bed himself hours ago and he felt vaguely lost without the older man there to tell him what to do. He admitted to himself that sounded as if he was dependent on the other older man, but secretly he suspected that he was.

After awhile of wandering he found himself drifting into a familiar living room and decided to crash on the couch for a short while. He searched through the dark for a few moments before he managed to locate and retrieve the television remote. He carefully turned the box on and lowered the volume enough that he could hear it but so that a certain sleeping adult would not be disturbed.

He lounged lazily on the worn couch flipping through the few available channels before finally stopping on a rerun of the day's news. He sat barely listening and was in the beginnings of a daydream until he saw something very concerning appearing on the screen.

It was his school picture.

Snapping to attention he raised the volume slightly so he could hear better.

"_…is a picture of Zachary Wayne of Gotham City. The young man is the only son of the Late Bruce Wayne who was owner of Wayne Industries and has been missing for nearly two weeks. The boy's mother Teresa Wayne reported the youth missing when he could not be located when a servant had been sent to wake him for school. Ms. Wayne is offering a 10,000 dollar reward towards anyone with information on her son's location. Zachary is 17 and stands at roughly 5'10" and weighs around 125 to 140 pounds._

Police officials investigating the issue believe that this could be a possible kidnapping due to the youth's family and background. Police have been questioning the few friends that Zachary was reported to be seen associated with but none of the teens had been aware Zachary was missing until they were questioned by detectives. Our sources have told us that there are search teams on call around the main Gotham City area, but so far they have found nothing concerning Zachary Wayne.

Here is another showing of Zachary's most recent photo, and if you have any information on this young man's disappearance please call us at 1-800-643…"

Zachary shut off the t.v. with an almost hostile click of the remote.

His heart was racing and he had started breathing heavily. He felt the heavy pump of his heart in his chest and he briefly worried he was going to have a panic attack. He thought back to his confrontation with Spider-Man he knew there was a good chance that whoever his secret identity was, he most likely had seen this broadcast and had recognized him.

He sat there silently panicking for a moment and nearly jumped out of his skin when the light switched on. He turned around so quickly that Otto wondered how it was possible for his head and neck to stay connected.

Zachary saw the other man standing in the doorway with an expression that said he was contemplating something. Zachary froze when he noticed the older man was bare chested and was actually only wearing a pair of black sweatpants. He saw that part of the 'tentacle thing' wrapped around the older man's slightly pudgy belly covering it entirely.

"That is definitely inconvenient, but it does not matter."

Zachary's mouth opened and shut a few times.

"It doesn't?"

Otto seemed amused and the corners of his lips quirked up. He walked over to the young man and lowered himself onto the couch next to him.

"No, it doesn't. I guarantee you that by tomorrow's 7 o'clock news you will be shown again, only that time you will be referred to as 'Granite'."

Zachary slowly nodded and eyed the Doctor's metallic tentacles that were almost lazily waving and curling behind him. As usual he was uncomfortable by the close proximity of the older man's body and this was only heightened by the fact the older man was only half dressed.

Otto easily picked up on the young man's discomfort and it troubled him the boy kept shying away. He decided that he wanted to test the boy's reactions to physical contact. Only for scientific and concerned reasons of course.

He gently moved closer to the young man keeping his eyes on the youth for any and all reactions. Zachary seemed to stiffen for a moment but then relaxed slightly. Otto noted the reaction and proceeded onward.

He once again moved a bit closer until he was right up against the younger man and gently wrapped his arm around the youth's shoulders. His hand began to gently massage the base of the boy's neck and stopped to see the young man's reaction.

He was clearly disappointed but not entirely surprised when the youth abruptly bolted from the room.

He sat looking at the doorway the young man had just done a Mock 5 through and sighed. The young man clearly had some touching issues and seemed to be very self-conscious. Oh well, they could work on that later.

End of Chapter

Hey! I hope this wasn't a bit too much. Did I go too far? Oh well, thank you so much for reading and please review!!!

Stray-


	10. Kamikaze

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own the Beautiful Girl and Zachary (A.K.A: Granite). I do not own Spider-Man, Doc Ock, blah…blah…blah…

Notes: Thank you so much for the reviews and all of the support! Thank you **Pirate Goddess**, **elvesmagic101**, err…**person without an account**, **Selene**, **mythical gurl-JoeyW.fan**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Repto**, and **Toilet Paper Roll** for all reviewing!! I really appreciate all of the reviews. Thank you!!

Chapter 10

Over the next few days Otto spent most of his time researching and studying samples of the mutation from Zachary. He continued cooking regular meals daily and made attempts to physically interact with the boy, but the young man continued to shy away.

Sometimes during the evenings he would join Zachary in the 'living room' to watch the news. As he had predicted days before, Zachary was shown on the news as 'Doc Ock's partner in crime' instead of the possibly kidnapped billionaire baby. Every time he made an effort to get up close to the teenager, Zachary would automatically scuttle away from the contact.

He was becoming increasingly disappointed with the teen's reaction to him and by the fourth day he had become plain out irritated and concerned. The young man was spending most to all of his time in his room with the door shut listening to the walkman he had brought in his backpack. He didn't know what the boy was listening to, but he knew that whenever he passed by the young man's door he could hear loud angry sounding music that had been turned up.

But he let the youth enjoy his privacy and he continued his research.

On the fifth day it was time for another outing. He had a theory that might help the younger man's problem. He still had to work out what he fully needed and he planned to build a containment cylinder to begin with. The cylinder would need to be properly built and constructed so that the necessary cables could be hooked up. It would need to large enough that Zachary could be contained for the procedure and specific fluids he had yet to find needed to be able to fill into it so Zachary would be suspended carefully. Many other factors needed to be taken care of and worked out and he had yet to do all of that.

Many of the parts he would need were located at an Oscorp facility on the other side of town. He would be able to steal a fully constructed cylinder from there and modify and set it up in the warehouse. Zachary was to accompany him.

He dressed in his usual outfit for his outings and went to get his young charge.

After he knocked on Zachary's door he heard the angry sounding music be shut off. The door was opened and there stood Zachary in a very depressing outfit. Over the stretch of time he had spent with the youth Otto had easily been able to pick up on Zachary's colors of choice. Black or charcoal gray. But right now the boy looked absolutely depressing.

He was wearing a black shirt that the sleeves had been cut off. The shirt had a low collar and it stretched out so that the tops of both shoulders could be seen. An oriental symbol was printed on the front of the shirt in jagged blood red marks and he was horrified when he recognized the symbol as the kamikaze sign. The Japanese symbol for suicide fighter. He was also wearing dark gray pants that were tight around his slim hips but became baggier once you went south of the thighs. The pants seemed to be similar to cargo pants because they had many side pockets and a black stripe went down the side of each of the pant legs. He wore what looked like black hiking boots to finish off the 'gothic' look.

Even though the young man was dressed so depressingly, his face was as calm and pleasant as always. His frosty green eyes were as clear as windows and he seemed pleasantly surprised to see Otto. A small smile danced on the edges of his lips and he looked at the older man expectantly.

Otto knew that the boy got along with him just fine. The teen was just skittish of the close contact.

"Were going out. There is a good chance you might have to fight today, so I hope your ready."

Zachary's face became serious and he nodded.

"Just give me a second."

The teenager walked briskly back into his room and Otto watched with a raised eyebrow as the young man took his c.d. player, unplugged it, and put two new batteries into it. He put the actual machine into one of his higher pockets and Otto watched with some amusement when the youth pulled out the bottom of his shirt and pulled the headset up underneath and up through the low collar. He then set the headset around his neck.

He then turned and came back over to the older man.

"Ok, I'm ready."

Octavius nodded and Zachary followed the older man to the door. This time though, Zachary wasn't ordered to close his eyes. When they stepped outside Zachary saw that they were in some kind of a deserted lot. Litter and cement surrounded the area and a short chain link fence surrounded the warehouse perimeter.

Zachary raised his arms slightly waiting for a tentacle to wrap around his waist, but he was surprised when instead two large arms wrapped themselves around him. He went completely stiff and turned to look at the older man with a weary look.

"I'm going to need all four of my tentacles for this job. It will not only be easier on you and myself this way; it will also be safer. You're fairly light, so you won't need to worry about me dropping you."

Zachary nodded but his unease from the physical contact did not leave. It was only worsened when the older man had to pull Zachary back up against his own body and the teen could feel the man's pelvis up against his lower back.

The journey to the Oscorp facility was a long one and it felt like an eternity to poor Zachary.

When they arrived Otto set Zachary down on the roof and released his hold on the teen. The boy stumbled forward and was relieved to have the other man's body away from his own.

"Your job is to stay here and try to distract Spider-man when he arrives. I'm unsure of how long I'm going to take so try to remain calm and prepared for anything. Can you handle that?"

Zachary nodded his face as serious as if it were set in stone. Ooh…bad choice of words.

Otto nodded back to the young man and went over to the edge of the roof. Giving the young man one last look he climbed over the side and forced his way in through a window.

Zachary remained on the roof and looked around. He knew how this stuff worked.

Bad guy breaks in and security calls for backup. Good guy follows the sirens and backup to the place where bad guy broke in.

Now his job was to wait for and to stall the good guy when he arrives.

Zachary reached into one of his cargo pockets and pulled out his c.d. player. He turned it on and skipped ahead to track six. He then placed the player back into his pocket and fastened the snap the kept the pocket closed. He pulled on his headphones and waited for the music to start.

__

Wake up (wake up)

Grab a brush and

Put on a little makeup

I just crossed the feeling

With a shakeup

Why'd you leave

The keys up on the table?

Here we go

Create another fable

(You wanted to)

Sirens were approaching but Zachary turned up the volume. In the far distance he could see a swinging figure approaching.

__

Grab a brush and

Put on a little makeup

(You wanted to)

I just crossed the feeling

With a shakeup

(You wanted to)

Why'd you leave

He keys up on the table?

(You wanted to)

The figure got closer and it spotted Granite standing on the roof of the building under assault. Behind his

mask Spider-Man frowned at the sight of the teen with a dangerous sharp grin on his face.

__

Well I don't think

You trust in

My self-righteous suicide

Why cry when angels

Deserve to

Die

(Growl)

Spider-Man landed down in front of the sharp grinning teenager and put himself on guard. He noticed that

the young man had headphones on and had loud angry music blaring.

__

Wake up (wake up)

Grab a brush and

Put on a little makeup

I just crossed the feeling

With a shakeup

Why'd you leave

The keys up on the table?

Here we go

Create another fable

(You wanted to)

Grab a brush and

Put on a little makeup

(You wanted to)

I just crossed the feeling

With a shakeup

(You wanted to)

Why'd you leave

The keys up on the table?  
(You wanted to)

Spider-Man stared at the teen who was part stone and tensed up when Granite opened his mouth to speak. But he was surprised when instead of just saying something; the kid began singing along with whatever song he was listening to.

"Well I don't think you trust in

My self-righteous suicide

Why cry when angels

Deserve to die

In my self-righteous suicide

I cry when angels

Deserve to die."

__

Father (father)

Father (father)

Father (father)

Mother (mother)

The teen paused to grin and slowly began taking lazy steps towards the spider. As he took the slow lazy steps he began singing along again.

"Father, into your hands

I command my spirit

Father, into your hands

Why have you forsaken me

In your eyes

Forsaken me in your thoughts

Forsaken me in your hearts

Forsaken me oh oh

Trust in my self-righteous suicide

Why cry when angels

Deserve to die

In my self-righteous suicide

Why cry when angels

Deserve to die."

When the song ended Granite was standing face to face with the web-slinger. He casually undid the snap on his pocket and shut off his player. He then redid the snap and placed his headphones around his neck.

If he could have seen Spider-Man face he would have seen a bewildered look on the slightly older man's face. The web-head had no idea what he was supposed to think and from hearing the young man sing those slightly disturbing lyrics he wasn't sure if he wanted to really think it over.

The teenager had easily carried the tune and his voice had come out smooth and strong. Spidey had an idea if that had been for a talent contest the kid would have won.

But before the bug had a chance to make a wise crack he was abruptly punched in the jaw with a solid stone fist. The pest went flying over the side of the building and fell to the concrete floor with a loud 'thud'.

He was knocked unconscious instantly.

Less than a minute later the building shook and Octavius came up onto the roof. He was breathing quickly and two of his tentacles were holding a huge rectangular crate.

Upon seeing Zachary he rushed over to the youth and wrapped his arms around the boy's waist pulling the lithe body up against his own.

"We are leaving NOW."

Before Zachary could react they were climbing up the sides of tall buildings and on their way home.

End of Chapter

The song is called Chop Suey off of the Toxicity album by System of a Down. I hope you liked this long chapter and thank you all for reading! I will update as soon as I can and please review!!  
  
Stray-


	11. Crack'

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own the Beautiful Girl and Zachary (A.K.A: Granite). I do not own anything other than them. Blah…blah…blah…

Notes: Ya! I thought you would like the song idea! Thank you **elvesmagic101**, **mythical gurl**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Pirate Goddess**, **Moon Avenger**, **Repto,** and **Selene **for all of you great reviews!!

Thank you all so much! Oh, by the way, **_Moon Avenger_** if you write a Doc Ock story not only will I read it but I will review every chapter and put you on my author alert list. ; )

Chapter 11

They had made it half way back to the hideout when the insufferable pest caught up with them. Apparently Zachary hadn't hit him just hard enough.

Octavius had reacted quickly and had hid the stolen equipment the moment he saw the bug coming, but he had held on to Zachary. This is what had caused it to all happen.

He had been attempting to keep his hold on the young man and use his fierce tentacles to fight the web-head at the same time. He had managed to knock the spider over to a different building for a moment, but the part of the ledge one of his tentacles had been holding onto crumbled. The tentacle lost its hold and both men were swung up against the building side.

Zachary had been turned around at some point and his back was crushed up against the hard stone side of the building. Otto was pressed right up against the young man's front. Their faces were nearly touching and each could feel the other's breath. All in all, it was a very awkward position.

Octavius could see the web-slinger returning and a plan came to his brilliant mind.

"Zachary, do you trust me?"

He was staring straight into the boy's eyes and he seemed very serious. Zachary looked at him with an expression that said he was surprised, suspicious, and confused all at the same time.

"Do you trust me!?"

Otto's voice came out much more forceful and hurried this time. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see that Spider-Man was almost to them.

"Uh…yes. Yes, I trust you."

Zachary was looking at him clearly confused and weary.

"Good."

Less than half a second after saying that, Otto moved out from in front of the boy and over to his side, then he roughly shoved the boy off of the small ledge he had been standing on.

Zachary was falling from the side of a huge skyscraper towards the street far below.

Panic and utter terror gripped the young man's chest like an icy fist as he fell. He tried to turn and saw just in time to see Octavius leap over the roof of the building and disappear from sight.

He continued to see the fast approaching street and harsh air was blowing into his eyes causing tears of pain to swell up. He braced his arms in front of his face and waited for the fatal impact.

It never came.

Spider-Man had been torn between going after Ock or saving some confused kid from becoming street pizza. Guess which one he picked?

He dove down and after a brief moment of thinking 'I'm not gonna make it!' he managed to wrap and arm around the teen and swung them down to the street.

Upon landing he let go of Granite and watched the younger man sink down onto his knees and begin to tremble. His arms were still positioned above his head and he could hear harsh irregular breathing coming from the kid.

"Well, you sure have a great taste in friends."

The youth slowly lowered his arms from their braced position and stared wide-eyed at the spider. His face was deathly pale but the area around his eyes looked wind burned.

"h..he.. l.. l…lef.. t…me."

His voice was trembling as harshly as his body and he sounded as though he was asking a question.

Before Spider-Man could say anything else a familiar tentacle shot down apparently out of nowhere and grabbed the boy's ankle. The kid was then brought flying up upside down to the top of a random roof where the owner of the tentacle stood grinning smugly.

Zachary was brought over to Otto while still dangling upside down. This only added to Zachary's awkward feelings when he realized that while in this position he was exactly face to crotch with the other man. Exactly, face to crotch.

Otto could tell the young man was suffering from sheer humiliation and decided to take pity on the poor boy by carefully setting him upright.

The older man's smug grin faltered when he saw the boy's eyes were wind burned and noticed how shook up he was.

"Are you all right?"

Zachary stared at him.

"You just let me fall about three hundred feet, then grabbed me and whipped me around upside down, then practically shoved my face into your crotch. Yeah, I'm fine."

The young man's youthful voice came out winded and sarcastic with the slightest touch of anger.

Octavius just frowned and shook his head.

"I hid the equipment closer to the hideout. We need to leave before Spider-Man comes up here."

"To late Ock!"

Both men turned just in time to see the spider come soaring towards them. A moment later both the spider and Otto were fighting once again.

((A/N: Sorry, but another skip ahead. I know you guy's are probably annoyed but I'm sorry. I have this perfectly in my head but I can't find the right words. Please don't kill me.))

About ten minutes later Zachary was watching the fight start to slow down, but what he didn't know was that he wouldn't see the end of this fight.

Just as all three of the men thought the fight was near it's end the part of the concrete wall Spider-Man was webbed to crumbled. A large chunk of concrete stayed attached to the web as the bug swung to another building and the chunk was swung around. Only to forcefully collide with the side of Zachary's head.

A sickening loud 'crack' was heard and Zachary went tumbling along the rooftop and finally skidded to a stop. He lay limp and quiet.

Otto looked at the boy's limp form wide eyed and turned to Spider-Man with a sudden rage. The pest was still staring at the teen's body in shock and surprise and didn't notice Doc Ock until all four of the man's tentacles grabbed him and proceeded to beat him against the side of the building until he too, was knocked unconscious.

Otto's anger ebbed away into worry as he hurried over to where his young charge was sprawled limply on the pebbled rooftop.

He kneeled down next to the young man and saw his left temple was bleeding. The entire area around the temple was turning a sickening red and purple combination. Fear jolted through Otto's chest, temple wounds were the worst head injury you can get. The boy's left eye was also turning color and he noticed the small stream of blood seemed to pick up speed lightly.

As carefully as possible he bundled up the young man into his arms and carefully cradled the boy's head into the nook of his elbow.

The trip back to the warehouse was made slowly, even more so when he had to stop and pick up the stolen equipment from it's hiding spot.

He had quickly dumped the crate in the 'living room' and had to hurry carefully to his lab.

He spent the next hour checking the Zachary's head for any fractures, weakened areas, brain swelling and all things associated with head injuries. He was greatly relieved to find no fractures or cranial swelling, and managed to bandage the boy's temple.

He had carefully carried Zachary to his room and stacked both of the boy's pillows on top of each other. He then gently put the boy to bed. By this time, the entire upper left side of Zachary's head had swelled and turned reddish purple.

Octavius decided building the containment cylinder could wait until Zachary woke up and was healed enough to care for himself. Little did he know that it would be three days before the young man awoke.

End of Chapter

Hey! Well what do you think? I really worked hard on this one. I'm leaving on a weekend vacation tomorrow, so I wont be able to update until about Monday. Sorry, It's actually my parent's choice and they are dragging me along. Well, Thank you for reading and please Review!!

Stray-


	12. He Will Pay

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own the Beautiful Girl and Zachary (A.K.A: Granite). I do not own Spider-Man, Oscorp, Doc Ock, any songs or bands mentioned, blah…blah…blah…

Notes: I got reviews! Again! Thank you **DocOcksGirl31**, **Moon Avenger**, **Pirate Goddess**, **Repto**, **Seizure Squirrel**, **Toilet Paper Roll**, **mythical gurl**, and **Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon** for all reading and reviewing! I also thank anybody who read but did not review. (glomps)

Chapter 12

During the length of time Zachary was 'out of commission', Otto spent almost all of his time sitting with the young man.

He was continuously checking Zachary's wound and re-bandaging it. He would only leave the boy's side to eat, use the restroom, and change into clean clothes.

It was strange to him. He knew as a doctor that Zachary would be all right. He knew this perfectly, but for some reason there was a nagging worry in the back of his mind that something might go wrong. That his boy wouldn't be all right.

He had been startled the first time he had thought of Zachary as _his_ boy. He had been sitting in a chair he had set next to Zachary's bed watching him drift in his injury induced sleep, and he had suddenly just thought of him as his boy. He was not only startled but also confused and slightly alarmed. It was almost like how when he had been younger and thought of Rosie as his girl.

That was what had alarmed him.

But the longer he had thought about it, the more he had come to tell himself that Zachary was _his_ boy. When he really thought about it, it made plenty of sense. After all, he had taken the boy in, taken care of him, and in the mind of any logical person, that would make Zachary _his_.

On the third day after the 'incident' Otto was in his place sitting next to Zachary's still form. He had crossed his legs 'guy style' and had a book propped up against his knee. He would occasionally look up from the pages and study the lithe body next to him for any movement, maybe brush the youth's bangs out of his face and watch them fall back into place, and then look back to his book.

After returning back to his book for the umpteenth time he didn't notice the flicker of movement made by Zachary's eyelids. There were several more flickers and finally the right eye opened about half way. The left side of the boy's face was still reddish purple and extremely tender. There was too much pain to attempt opening the left.

The room was fairly dim but the eye in question still squinted after three days without light. A very small almost unnoticeable whine came from the back of the boy's throat.

Otto immediately looked down at his charge with a look of surprise and a relieved smile played on his lips.

"Your awake."

He closed his book and set it on the ground by his chair.

Zachary squinted up at the other man and opened his mouth to speak. All that came from his mouth though, were a few hoarse coughs and wheezes.

Otto knew immediately what the problem was and picked up a glass of water that he had set on the floor near his chair. He carefully held the glass up to the young man's lips and held it there as the boy drank. When Zachary was done he pulled it back and set it back down next to the chair.

"What happened?"

The youth's voice was still a little hoarse and a bit weak but he seemed to not have suffered too much damage.

"You were hit quite forcefully upside your head."

"By what, a truck?"

Otto chuckled lightly at that weak statement.

"No, by Spider-Man. The fool hit you with a large slab of solid concrete. It's amazing you didn't suffer from any brain damage."

Zachary looked at him with heavy eyes. He had finally worked up the nerve to open the left, even if only slightly.

"Maybe I did and you just don't know it yet."

Otto raised an eyebrow at that. But then he noticed the weak attempt at a wry grin that had fallen across the young man's lips. Otto quickly found a grin spreading onto his own lips.

"Yes well, I highly doubt that."

He shook his head and chuckled.

"You've been out cold for three days. Are you hungry?"

Zachary's eyes widened slightly at hearing that he'd been out for that long, but he was immediately drawn into the prospect of _food_. He nodded and stopped to wince at the throbbing in his skull.

Otto stood up and moved the chair back over to the desk it belonged to. He used two of his tentacles to set the glass and his book on the dresser and then turned back to Zachary.

"Can you stand?"

Zachary paused a moment and then answered.

"Uh…yeah. Yeah, I think so."

Otto nodded and walked over to the young man and pulled away the covers. Zachary took the hint and allowed the older man to help him to his feet. Otto paused and remembered that Zachary had been unconscious for three days and had been wearing the same clothes through out that entire time.

"Lets get you some different clothing first. I'll help you change."

Zachary instantly made an attempt to detach himself from the older man only to stumble and be pulled even closer.

"No, that's okay. I can do it myself. You can just wait in the hall until I'm done."

Otto noticed an almost frightened tone to the young man's voice. This alarmed him to know that the boy was actually **_scared_** of him.

"Zachary calm down. I'm just going to help you change. If I don't help you, you might lose your balance and fall just to crack open your already injured head."

The boy in question watched him with a weary look.

"All…all right."

Otto nodded but he was still troubled by the boy's fear. Carefully keeping a hand on the boy's shoulder so he would stay steady he helped the boy remove his shirt. It was a good thing it had such a low wide collar so it didn't catch or cause Zachary any further pain.

When he went to un-button the youth's pants he felt the boy go so stiff, you would think someone had fused his spine with a two by four. When he looked up at the boy's face it had been wiped clean of all emotion and his pupils were dilated. He looked positively pitiful with that added to the bruised temple and eye. When he looked back down he noticed on the way that small patches of the stone mutation had spread and were speckling along the left ribs.

He just shook his head and undid the young man's pants entirely and pulled them down to his ankles. He waited for the youth to step out of them and tossed them with the shirt onto the rumpled bed.

His tentacles stretched out behind him and began searching through the chest of drawers. One returned to him with a plain baggy black tank top, another with a pair of boxers and the third with black drawstring pajama pants.

He helped the boy out of his current underwear and tossed them onto the bed. He then helped the youth into the new cleaner and more comfortable clothes.

He stood up straight while still keeping a hold on the young man and heard Zachary exhale deeply as if he had been holding his breath.

He let the young man walk independently along side him to the kitchen but stayed alert just in case he stumbled or lost his balance.

Upon arriving Zachary collapsed into a chair and took a deep breath. His head felt like it was going to explode and it was throbbing in a less than enjoyable way.

Otto went to the pantry and began shuffling things around.

"Lets start you out on something that doesn't involve much chewing."

He stepped back with a can of Spaghetti –O's in his hand. (A/N: You really don't have to chew that stuff.)

He prepared the food and quietly served it to his 'patient'. He sat down across from the young man and watched him begin to eat.

"How do you feel?"

Zachary swallowed a spoon full of the small o-shaped pasta and tomato sauce before answering.

"Like I died."

Otto nodded and folded his hands on the table.

"Yes, after a blow like that I'm not the least bit surprised. You even look like you could have been close to death."

Zachary looked up at him sharply at that.

"What do you mean? What's wrong with the way I look?"

Otto then remembered that the boy hadn't seen himself. He sent one of his tentacles to fetch a small mirror from the bathroom down the hall and brought it back to himself. He then held it up in front of the youth across from him.

Zachary's spoon fell to the table and he stared at his battered face.

"I look like a hit fast-attack victim."

Otto lowered the small mirror down and set it on the table.

"You are a hit fast-attack victim. And Spider-Man victimized you."

He gently reached across the table and placed his hand over Zachary's.

"And he will pay for it dearly."

End of Chapter

Hey! I'm back. I went to Mackinaw Island, it was so fun. I hope you liked this chapter. I'm sorry if the last one was a bit rushed. Thank you for reading and Please Review!!

Stray-


	13. Admitting It

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own The Beautiful Girl and Zachary (A.K.A: Granite). I do not own Spider-Man, DocOck, Daily Bugle, OsCorp, Spaghetti-O's, any bands or songs that are mentioned, blah…blah…blah…

Notes: Wow, people are still reading. Must be a sign to continue! Thank you **Pirate Goddess**, **mythical** **gurl**, **anacsadder**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Toilet Paper Roll**, and **Moon Avenger** for all reading and reviewing. I also thank anybody that has been reading but not reviewing.

Chapter 13

After Otto had made his vow he had cleaned up Zachary's dishes and helped the child into the living room. Once the young man was secure on the couch he made a quick trip to his lab and retrieved some painkillers to help with the boy's 'discomfort'.

He then joined _his _boy on the couch and flipped through the various television channels until Zachary requested a particular program that had passed across the screen.

As Zachary watched his show (it was called 'The Simpsons', a cartoon with rude and violent humor.) Otto watched him. Even with facial bruises and tired pain filled eyes he was still an attractive sight. Otto watched as a small-amused smile quirked onto the boy's lips and laughed outright every time a character said or did something that involved a crude joke or exaggerated injury.

After about a quarter way into the program he decided to once again attempt contact with the youth. (Zachary was curled up on the far right side of the couch near the t.v.; Otto was on the left.)

He slowly began pushing himself closer to the youth and kept a close watch on the boy's reaction. Zachary tensed a bit but then relaxed while keeping his eyes fixated on the television screen. Otto took this as a sign to proceed onward and came up right against the teenager's side. Zachary seemed to bring his knees into his chest a bit tighter and his bare toes curled but he did not make any attempt to flee.

Otto wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulders and pulled him closer so that he was leaning up against the side of his chest. The 'assistants' raised above both of their heads and watched curiously. They didn't entirely understand what their father was doing. In their minds they believed he must have been proving that he was dominant over 'the boy'.

Zachary was still not making any attempt to flee but he had grown very tense and he was breathing in short rushed huffs through his nose.

But Otto still went forward.

He wrapped his other arm around the boy's abdomen and held it there firmly but gently. He used his thumb to gently massage the young man's flat belly through the black cloth of his shirt. He leaned forward and rested his chin on the area where Zachary's shoulder met his neck and put a little more strength into his embrace.

Under the palms of his hands he could feel the race of _his_ boy's heartbeat and could both hear and feel his irregular breathing. He could feel how tense the young man's muscles were and it was almost as if the child was forcing himself to not jump up and retreat.

Otto took this as a sign to proceed even further.

He gently pulled the boy's lean but muscular body up into his lap while bringing him even closer still.

Zachary began to tremble.

It was then that Otto noticed the pure fear that seemed to reek from the body he held so close. He felt almost hurt that the boy would fear his body.

Did the child actually believe that he would hurt him? Did he think he wanted to force him into intimacy? To bend and break him just to fulfill his lust?

He just wanted the boy to be comfortable with his contact. He had quickly grown very fond of him and wanted to be able to express his affection.

The assistants picked up on their father's emotions and wished desperately to help. One of the tentacles lowered down to the object of their father's affection and gently nuzzled the area under Zachary's chin the way a pet would.

Zachary was clearly surprised and actually pushed backwards against the older man. The tentacle in question wasn't phased whatsoever and just continued to show affection for the boy. The others soon followed their 'brother's' example and two gently wrapped around the boy's body in some kind of an odd hug as the fourth wrapped around the young man's leg giving it small light squeezes.

They knew that their father cared for this boy, and even though they didn't understand they would care for anything that their father did.

Zachary was in shock and was completely unaware of what he should do.

He cared more about Doctor Octavius than should be legally allowed but he was terrified of the thought he might be gay. His friends had used to make gay jokes and would bash on them and he would just nod his head but keep his mouth shut. He truly had never had a problem with gay people. To him it was just kind of 'whatever floats your boat' kind of thing.

He was scared that if he were to close with the older man than he would have to admit that he was in fact gay. He had heard how people talked about gay people; about how they would be struck down by God and sent to hell because God hadn't made human's to be that way.

He had never believed any of that garbage. In his mind he had always thought that if God hadn't meant for there to be gay people, why did he make them in the first place?

It was just the thought that he himself being gay scared him. What would people think of him? What would Doctor Octavius think of him?

But, it looks like the latter question was being answered for him at that very moment.

Zachary took a deep shuddering breath and set his mind.

'All right already! I, Zachary Allen Wayne, am **_gay_**.'

That's it he refused to put it off any longer. He turned his head and looked into the eyes of the man who had been taking care of him and had accepted what he was.

Otto stared right back into the boy's frosty eyes and watched in almost slow motion as the teenager leaned towards him.

And pressed his youthful lips onto his own.

End of Chapter

Ok! Everybody who has been waiting for the real slash, there it is!! I hope you all like this chapter as much as I had fun writing it! God that was fun! Thank you so much for reading and Please Review!!!!

Stray-


	14. Let Them Know

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own The Beautiful Girl and Zachary (A.K.A: Granite). I do not own Spider-Man, DocOck, OsCorp, any products or mentioned food items, any television programs, songs or bands, blah…blah…blah…

Notes: Oh wow! Lots of reviews! Thank you **elvesmagic101**, **Pirate Goddess**, **Repto**, **mythical gurl**, **Taimy**, **Selene**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **anacsadder**, **slash addict**, **Agent Silver** and **salem te /uru.myst & krismiassholl** for reviewing.

**__**

Salem te /uru.myst & krismiassholl: I'm sorry you feel that way about me and my story. Zachary is seventeen, and he and Otto won't have any **true** intimacy until after Zachary turns eighteen. And for your information I am NOT a slut. I have on occasion dated guys that lied about their age to me. But I respect that you expressed your opinion.

Chapter 14

The kiss was a fumbled awkward moment. It was closed mouthed and clumsy due to both of the men's inexperience with malemale intimate interaction.

When it was finally over (it only last a few moments but felt like an eternity) both pulled away.

Zachary's face was flushed along with the bruising and breathing as if he had just done something that had taken almost all of his energy. When he pulled back his eyes were closed and when he opened them they were wide and his mouth formed a silent 'oh'.

Otto was breathing equally as hard and had a look of pure undiluted surprise on his face. He was wondering what had caused his boy to go from running away to kissing him.

They sat in silence for several moments until Otto finally cleared his throat.

"Let's get you back into bed."

His voice came out as a soft whisper and Zachary nodded his head without saying a single word. No words were spoken between them as Otto helped his boy into his room and helped him into bed. He then left after picking up the dirty clothes from earlier and turned out the light behind him.

He stopped by the bathroom to drop the clothes off into the wicker hamper and then journeyed down to his study. He nearly collapsed into the chair and he quickly became lost in his thoughts and emotions.

Otto had always liked to think of himself as a prime example of heterosexuality. He had had his share of girl friends during his High School days and in collage had met Rosie. They had fallen in love and had gotten married. They had had a passionate love life and he had always thought that he would never have to sleep a night without her by his side. Obviously this changed after the accident, but he still loved her, remembered the feel of her body against his. He still wore his wedding ring as a sign of his never-ending love for her.

But another male had just kissed him. And to add to that, he had enjoyed it.

What would Rosie think?

But the answer to that just seemed it wouldn't present itself to him.

She would want him to be happy, that much he was sure of. But would she want him to be happy with a young man, young enough to be their son? He had no idea.

Rosie had been a strong believer in gay rights. She had felt they had every right to everything that they did. She believed they should be equal in the military, that they should have the right to marry and be as happily married as they had been.

But how would she have felt about _him_ being gay?

No, wait. He was still in love with Rosie. He still longed for her touch, for her beautiful warm smile. But he also felt something for Zachary. He had enjoyed their short-shared kiss; he enjoyed the younger man's youthful but intelligent personality.

He was bisexual.

He could handle that. Being bisexual wasn't being fully gay, albeit it wasn't being straight either. But he could handle that.

Rosie would want him to be happy. And Zachary made him happy.

He knew that Rosie would have adored Zachary. They would have loved each other.

Therefore, Rosie would want them together.

'What will the public make of it?'

That thought entered his mind extremely unwanted. He couldn't help but cringe at what they would likely make of it. Yes he could see the headlines already.

'**DocOck is Pedophile!**'

'**Hide Your Sons**!'

'**Ock and Granite: What Kind Of Partners?'**

That would be more than injuring to his status with the public as it was. He didn't want to think of what it would do for poor Zachary.

'_But father, he is almost a man._'

'_Yes, besides what do those foolish weaklings really know?_'

'_Yes, together we and him are to be unstoppable_.'

'_With him by our side, their fear will only grow_.'

Otto frowned in thought as he listened to the points made by his children. They were right of course; Zachary was nearly an adult. He was almost eighteen. And they continued to be right about the teenager's strength.

"But what of Zachary's opinion?"

The tentacles clicked and tittered amongst themselves for a moment.

'_He showed that he has interest in us_.'

'_Yes, and he was the one who sought us out._'

'_He just showed he wishes to be ours_.'

'_We have every right to make him ours_.'

Slowly a grin spread onto Otto's face.

"Yes, you are right. He does wish to be ours. And he is mine after all."

The grin grew as thoughts of what could be possible formed in his brilliant mind.

"The city will tremble in fear from our strength. Let the press know. We will make the most brilliant and dangerous couple this city has ever seen."

End of Chapter

Ya!! Chapter up. Hope you all like! I had a lot of thinking to do over this chapter. Thank you for reading and please review!!

Stray-


	15. That's Why

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own The Beautiful Girl and Zachary (A.K.A: Granite). I do not own Spider-Man, DocOck, OsCorp, any mentioned products or foods, any mentioned bands, songs, singers, television programs, blah…blah…blah…

Notes: More reviews!! I'm special!! Thank you **Pirate Goddess**, **mythical gurl**, **Toilet Paper Roll**, **Selene**, **Seta Firetail**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Repto** and **Taimy** for all of your supportive reviews! I also thank anybody else that read but decided not to review!!

Chapter 15

Zachary lay in the darkness staring up at the ceiling of his room after Otto left. The throbbing in his skull was slowly returning and he was tired but much to wound up to sleep.

He had just kissed a man and enjoyed it.

He felt sick but good at the same time. There was a strange fluttering feeling curling around in the pit of his belly but it was neither bad nor unwanted. It was hard to describe because he couldn't ever remember having this feeling. Something about the flutter felt warm, it made him feel good, almost.

He sighed deeply and put his arms behind his pillow.

He had done it and he had been right. He had kissed an older man, enjoyed it, and therefor was a gay guy.

Thought's of his old friends floated up through his memories and presented themselves to him.

He saw himself and Don and Wyatt hanging out in front of their High School. Wyatt was imitating your classic stereotype gay guy. Talking with a lisp and moving his hands and saying "Girlfriend!"

Don was laughing his ass off and saying, "Damn queers!"

And he himself had just stood there leaning up against the railing nodding his head and smiling while in his head cussing at them for their immaturity.

He could only imagine what the must be saying about him by this point if they knew. He had to fight off a grimace of what they might do if they found out he was this close (see my fingers a centimeter apart?) to being a middle aged super villains bitch.

A picture of his mother appeared.

Teresa Casada-Wayne was a beautiful woman. She was tall for the average woman, about 5'9". And had somehow even after bearing two children stayed well sculpted and slender. She had beautiful high cheekbones and a delicate chin and nose. Her eyes were a warm sea-foam green that would contrast with Bruce Wayne's frosty blue. She had perfect chestnut brown hair that was long, down to her waist and naturally had a glossy sheen.

He could remember the smell of her perfume; it had always smelt like a cross between roses and super sweet cherries. It had been from her own perfume line.

He could see sweet and giddy Emily. Who was almost a clone of their mother only she had their father's coloring. She was 14 and it was always obvious. He remembered seeing her walk around the halls of their mansion with a expensive cellphone up to her ear talking a mile a minute about some boy or a new pair of flares by her favorite designer. She attended an all girls school and he remembered seeing her prance around in her school uniform and twirling around so her almost above the knees navy blue skirt would resemble a tulip that had been twirled around upside down.

She had annoyed him at times with her silly girlish ways but he had loved her.

He wondered if they knew about his partnership with Doctor Octavius. He was sure that the people searching for him had most likely told them by now. They probably thought that her had been brainwashed or taken advantage of. When you come from a family where Robin or Nightwing were often guests that was how you began to think.

He tried to imagine their faces when they found out that their loving brother and son was gay with an older male super villain. He wondered if either of them would faint.

He remembered back to when Emily had been kidnapped and held for ransom. He remembered hearing the police report had said Batman had been abnormally aggressive with the perps and he had had to stop from laughing out loud.

If his father had been alive what would he have done by now?

Zachary froze and felt like somebody had just dunked him into a sea of ice.

His father.

He was turning into a super villain and his father had been one of the most famous heroes of the modern day. His father would have disowned him if he were alive to see him now.

It was a scary and hurtful thought, but for some reason he could manage it.

But why could he manage such a horrible thing?

The answer came to him quickly and surprisingly simple.

Because he was not his father, and he was falling in love. That's why.

End of Chapter

Yeah, I know it's short. But it's okay if its good right? I hope so. Thank you for reading this chapter and Please Review!!

Stray-


	16. Coming Out

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I only own The Beautiful Girl, Emily Wayne, Teresa Casada-Wayne and Zachary (A.K.A: Granite). I do not own Spider-Man, DocOck, OsCorp, any mentioned products, shows, bands, singers, songs, foods, blah…blah…blah…

Notes: Well…err..I guess it's safe to say I'm losing some of my readers. Oh well, the price of being the FIRST person to write a DocOck Slash story. Muhahahaha!!! Thank you **Pirate Goddess**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **mythical gurl,** **Taimy**, **Agent Silver**, **Repto**, **Selene**, **anacsadder** and even **Lady Sesshoumaru** for all reviewing (or flaming).

Chapter 16

The next morning Zachary was not nearly as 'out of it'. He had by this time readjusted to being a wake and had gotten a hold of his bearings. He still looked like someone had attempted to kill him by means of the head, but he was feeling much better.

This was a good thing because Otto had been scheming the night before.

When Zachary walked into the kitchen he was greeted by the pleasant aroma of the bacon and cheese omelets being cooked by his…partner.

Otto looked up and smiled at his boy as he drifted still somewhat sleepily into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"That smells good."

Otto grinned.

"It's just about done. I made us both good-sized helpings; we'll both need it. We are running an errand today."

Zachary looked up at him curiously at the word errand. He watched Otto place a large omelet and two plates and walk over to the table. He stood behind Zachary and set down the plates, then wrapped his arms around the teen. Zachary stiffened for only half a second and then relaxed and leaned back into the embrace.

Otto chuckled lightly and planted a light kiss on to the boy's neck, then released him and took his place on the other side of the table across from Zachary.

"What kind of errand?"

He said picking up a forkful of the much-appreciated food.

Otto swallowed a bite of his meal and looked up at the youth casually.

"Oh, just a trip to the bank."

Zachary couldn't help but to snicker. He knew what **that** meant. They finished the rest of their large meal in silence and then parted ways to prepare for their outing.

Zachary dug through his clothing drawers and finally pulled out a pare of baggy legged black jeans, and a dark gray top with the words 'Azkaban Prison Fugitive' printed in craggy burnt orange letters across the front. It was a tee shirt so it didn't have to have ripped sleeves. He quickly dressed and looked around.

Zachary suddenly remembered something from the day he was hurt.

"My head-phones!"

He looked around his room in a panic but calmed when he saw the missing item sitting on his desk.

He pulled out his c-d book that was still in his backpack and picked a new disc and switched it with the one already in the player.

He repeated the same thing he had done the morning of his last outing and made sure to pocket a spare pare of batteries just in case.

He pulled on his black boots and paused to consider if there was anything else he would need.

Thinking over it for a moment he dug into the drawer on his desk and pulled out his pack of super sour bubble tape and stuck a piece of the green gum into his mouth, puckered for a moment and felt the flavor begin to die.

He was ready.

Leaving the room, he met up with the patiently waiting Otto who was standing in the 'living room' dressed in his usual bad guy attire. His…partner (boyfriend?) smiled at him upon seeing him enter the room.

"Ready?"

Zachary nodded his head.

"Good."

Once again Zachary followed Otto out of the warehouse and much more comfortably let the older man wrap his arms around his thin middle. Otto smiled to himself when he felt _his_ boy lean back into the embrace.

The trip took a while. And the winds from above the high buildings were making Zachary wish he had taken his trench coat. But he was a super villain, so he toughed it out.

When they were just less than a block from the bank that had been chosen, Otto lowered them both down into a deserted alley.

"We won't draw any attention to ourselves until we are inside the bank. We will have to walk and act as normally as possible until we are there and inside."

Zachary looked up with a look that clearly said 'you have got to be kidding me'.

"You've got to be kidding me. We can't just walk down the street! Do you think nobody will notice a guy with four tentacles and a kid with a stone arm?!"

Otto frowned but then sighed.

"I can retract my tentacles enough to hide them under my coat. I made a flap in the back that I can place or pull away to cover or release them. You just need to walk close enough to me to press your left side up against myself, and have your stone out of view. That is only for when we are on the sidewalk, we will take the alley up until that point."

Zachary still looked skeptical but shrugged.

"What about my face? Somebody will recognize me even though you have your hat and sunglasses. "

"Just look at the ground until we are off the side walk and in the building. By the way…"

Zachary watched curiously as the older man searched through his coat pockets for a moment and pulled out a second pair of sunglasses. Only these ones were newer, darker, and sharper shaped. Teenage boy sunglasses. Otto handed them to him.

"I picked those up a few day's ago and nearly forgot about them."

Zachary just nodded and put them on and watched the world go dim and dark.

"Let's go."

Otto nodded in agreement and took the lead. Zachary followed the older man through the twists and turns of the alleys until they were just down and across the street from their target.

"Just stay up against my side, until we are in the building."

Zachary nodded in answer to the older man's hushed order and came up next to the other man and pressed his stone arm against the man's coat covered side.

They walked out of the alley taking their time and being careful. They kept their eyes on the ground and refrained from looking up at anybody who passed them. After what felt like an eternity the crossed the street ignoring some strange looks from people passing by and made it to the door of the bank.

Otto opened the door and felt the rush of cool air conditioned air hit his face and allowed Zachary to walk in ahead of him. It was the same as any other bank, people standing in line, the clean smell and shiny polished floors.

So far no one had noticed them.

"I'm going to go find the vault. Stay here and guard the door, make sure no one leaves and try to keep others from coming in."

Otto said this by leaning forward and whispering into Zachary's ear. The teenager nodded silently and watched the older man casually walk past people in desks and lines.

His headphones were resting around his neck and he immediately pulled them on and reached into his pocket. He knew the buttons by heart and didn't need to see them to turn it on and skip ahead to his favorite track.

As he waited for the music he leaned against the door and watched the neatness and order that was about to turn into total chaos.

__

I lie awake in a long, dark night

I can't seem to tame my mind

Slings and arrows are killing me inside

Maybe I can't accept the life that's mine

A grin spread onto his face when the screams of utter fear and terror penetrated through the music's shield on his mind. He turned up the volume watched as people began running and screaming. Papers and chunks of debris began flying.

__

Simple living is my desperate cry

Been trading love with indifference

yeah it suits me just fine

I try to hold on but I'm calloused to the bone

Maybe that's why I feel alone

Maybe that's why I feel so alone

A security guard came running towards Zachary, no, it was Granite now. A security guard came running at Granite, he was yelling something and was pulling a gun from its holster. But he was a rookie, and came to close. Granite punched him in the face and there was a crack when the solid stone hit the normal human skull. The man went flying into a wall and fell. He didn't get back up.

__

Me…I'm rusted and weathered

Barely holding together

I'm covered in skin that peels and

it just won't heal

The sun shines and I can't avoid the light

I think I'm holding on to life too tight

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust

Sometimes I feel like giving up

Sometimes I feel like giving up

Sirens were coming and that meant the future arrival of someone truly unwanted. DocOck grabbed three moneybags and threw one to Granite. The boy caught it and was grinning a deadly grin. Ock felt a swell of pride when he saw the predatory look.

__

Me…I'm rusted and weathered

Barely holding together

I'm covered in skin that peels and

it just won't heal

The day reminds me of you

The night hides your truth

The earth is a voice

Speaking to you

Take all this pride

And leave it behind

Because one day it ends

One day we die

Believe what you will

That is your right

But I choose to win

So I choose to fight

To fight

The music ended and Granite turned off the player. He could hear that the sirens were nearly there and that it was about time to go. He looked over and saw Ock standing over a weeping teller and walked up behind the man. Over the older man's shoulder he could see the woman was probably in her mid-twenties and her make-up was running with the tears of fear that dripped down her face as she looked up at the two men standing above her.

"Don't be frightened my dear." Ock purred. He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a clean white handkerchief. He kneeled down and used it to wipe the tears and running mascara from the woman's cheeks. She just stared up at him bug eyed with terror.

"We just need you to deliver a message to the authorities when they arrive, can you do that sweetness?"

Still wide eyed with terror she nodded her head in a way that looked as if she was having a seizure. Ock grinned and tucked the now soiled handkerchief back into one of the folds of his coat.

"That's a good girl. Tell them that this was not just a petty money crime. Tell them Doctor Octopus and Granite came here to make a point. Say that we came here to prove the strength of our partnership and that anyone who gets in our way is surly to pay in a most unfortunate way."

Ock paused to stand back up. His tentacles waved around above and behind him and like the day they met, two of the clawed heads clutched bags of money. The other two opened their heads and leered down at the now trembling woman.

"But most importantly of all my dear, tell them the extent of our partnership."

And to emphasize and explain his last words, Ock turned, wrapped one of his normal arms around Granites waist and pulled him forward into a brief but hard kiss. Zachary closed his eyes for the kiss, though it could not be seen behind his dark glasses.

When they parted both men noticed with amusement that their trembling messenger's eyes were the size of large diner plates.

"Time to go."

Ock's announcement was sudden and he grabbed the arm of his accomplice pulling him from the wrecked building. They were quick enough to be gone and out of sight by the time Spider-Man had made it there.

Ock would have been even more pleased with their small show if he had known they had been just in the right position for a security camera to get a clean and fairly clear picture of their 'affectionate pose'.

They were in for one interesting news hour that night.

End of Chapter

LONG ENOUGH FOR YA'! Hehe, I'm just kidding. Thanks for reading!! Wow this took hours to type.(I'm a slow typist.) Thank you for reading and please review! I'll update soon!

Stray-


	17. Fanclub

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: You know what I'm going to say.

Notes: Hehe, I knew that chapter was a good idea. Thank you **mythical gurl**, **Selene**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Toilet Paper Roll**, **Taimy**, **Repto,** **Phendrana**, and **Lady Sesshoumaru** for all reviewing.

**__**

Lady Sesshoumaru: I forgive you. I don't know what I would do if my cat got hit by a car. (He's in my lap right now, and I'm having trouble typing.) But my parents got divorced when I was 9. So, I forgive you.

Chapter 17

Later that night Otto and Zachary were sitting on the couch together waiting for the news to start. Zachary was as usual closest to the television but he was leaning back up against Otto who had wrapped an arm around him. Otto was leaning back in a sitting up position with Zachary lying on top of him. The boy's head lightly rested on his chest. (A/N: If somebody can draw this can you send it to me??)

Otto could feel the younger man's body tense up from excitement when the News Hour started and couldn't help but grin himself.

" _We just received a copy of a security tape from the Madison Jereds Memorial Bank in Manhattan where a robbery by the Infamous Doctor Octopus and his recent accomplice Granite took place. After causing much destruction to the building and stealing an unrecorded amount of money the two men approached one the employees and ordered her to deliver a strange but serious message to the authorities._"

It flashed to a clip of the teller from the bank. The woman had a towel around her shoulders and her face was tear streaked and her eyes were still wide from trauma. A microphone was being held up to her by a male reporter wearing a navy blue suit.

"_The kid…Granite…he didn't say anything. But the other one…DocOck… he started talking to me like I was a little girl. He kept calling me 'My dear', and 'sweetness', I was so scared. He even used his handkerchief to wipe my tears but it scared me even more. I thought I was going to die. He told me to say that the break in wasn't for the money. He said that they were proving a point, that they were stronger than us and that anyone who tried to get in their way would get hurt. Then he did something that just…shocked the heck out of me"_

"What did he do?"

"Well," she paused to lick her dry lips_. "He said something about telling the police about the 'extent of their partnership'. I didn't understand. Then, well, then he and Granite **kissed** each other. On the mouth and everything. I guess he meant that they were gay together."_

The male reporter had a look that said he was both surprised but serious at the same time. He turned to the camera and said, "_Back to you Sam."_

It flashed back to a woman reporter sitting at a desk at the news headquarters place.

"_As you can see, this case is a very special one. Through out history it has not been odd for super villains to date amongst themselves, but this is the first recorded homosexual couple. The security camera at the bank managed to get a clear shot of the scene described to us by the witness."_

In the upper right hand corner one of those view pictures appeared. The scene had been cropped and zoomed in to get a slightly better look, but there in black and white was DocOck with his arm around Granite and their lips pressed roughly together. Both had their sunglasses on, but it was obvious that it was not just some act that had been thrown together for media coverage alone.

In real life Zachary was emitting the male version of giggling and Otto was grinning like an idiot. Neither of them had realized that they had been caught on camera. They had just figured the teller would tell all.

"_We are now going to the streets to see the publics opinion and will be talking to some experts about this strange confession by the two menaces."_

It flashes back to the male reporter and proceeds to show many clips of different people on the sidewalk giving their opinion.

It shows a man in a union hat and with a stubbly beard first.

"_Well personally I think it's sick as all get out. Men ain't supposed to like other men that way. Plus, if you remember when that Granite guy first showed up on the news, it said he was a dang 17 year old runaway. Ock is a sick man to be goin' fer little boy's."_

Next it was a woman who must have been in her late thirties and had reddish frizzy hair.

"_Well, I don't know if you want my opinion on them being super villains or being lovers. If it's the whole gay thing, it's not my place to say what gender they should prefer or who they date. That's their choice."_

It switched to a collage girl and a guy who must have been her boyfriend.

__

"Well, I come from a long line a gay rights supporters, so I don't have a problem with them being together."

It switches to her boyfriend_._

"I'm not going to lie. I think it's sick. But, I do think you people should think of what their break up fight would be like, it would destroy the city."

It shows a group of about five guy's who must be in there twenties_._

"It's the sickest thing we've ever heard of! Dude, it's bad enough we had gay's to begin with, now we got landed with not only normal gay freaks but also super gay freaks! What's next?! Pedophiles allowed to teach preschool?!"

It switches to a group of three teenage girls. They all have their arms around each other and are wearing tee shirts with Ock & Granite 4 Eva! Air brushed on the front.

"Granite and Ock we love you and we hope you are happy together!!!

I downloaded the camera pick and it's the wallpaper for all of our desktops now!!

We love you guys, and don't let people get you down, your gorgeous together!!!"

(A/N: that would be all the crazy fangirls of this story melted and formed into three psychos.)

By this point Zachary was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. Otto himself was having trouble holding in his laughter and was red in the face. Finally he just turned off or the television using the remote.

"We have a fanclub!"

Zachary was finally catching his breath and was grinning like a complete fool.

Otto just nodded his head while grinning and watched the boy sit up in to a sitting position and he sat up fully himself.

"I hadn't realized we had been in such a proper position for the cameras."

Zachary just nodded his grin not fading the slightest.

"Seriously, I bet you any amount of money that people who are really into gay rights are having a field day with this. I bet somebody has made a poster out of the shot."

Zachary paused after a few moments when Otto didn't answer. He noticed the man was watching him and looked at him curiously.

"What?"

Otto just smiled and leaned forward pressing his lips onto Zachary's. The teen kissed back and paused when Otto tried to get him to open his mouth using his lips.

Zachary had gotten used to kissing Otto already but they hadn't frenched yet. But he gave in without a fight and felt his pulse pick up when the other man's tongue dipped into his mouth.

Otto slowly began leaning forward more causing Zachary to have no choice but to lean backwards. They continued with this for many minutes until Zachary realized that he was on his back and Otto had him pinned down using his larger body.

Zachary felt the vaguest pang of fear when it hit him that he wasn't just being pinned down, but that he was being mounted. His fear diminished though, because they stayed in that position for nearly an hour without Otto attempting or making any moves saying that he wanted to go further. Zachary kept his arms around the older man's neck and abruptly started pushing the older man away.

Otto complied immediately wondering what was wrong. But he didn't get an answer because Zachary got up and left heading straight for his room.

Otto sat there on his couch with a still reddened face and breathing a little heavily.

What had he done wrong?

End of Chapter

Muahahahaha!!! Slashy as all get out!! I hope people who don't mind the slash enjoyed this and those who didn't, (-sticks out tongue-) neener neener neener!!! I'll update when I can. Please review!! Oh, and by the way, the song I used in the last chapter was Weathered by Creed.

Stray-


	18. Brown Eyes

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: You can't make me say it! (-sticks out tongue-)

Notes: Not as many reviews this time. (sighs) Oh well. Thank you **Toilet Paper Roll**, **mythical gurl**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Pirate Goddess** and **Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon** for all reviewing and sticking with me and my story. You guys and the people not reviewing are official members of the **_Ock & Granite Forever Fanclub_**. (Hands you tee shirts.)

Chapter 18

Zachary sat on his bed in his room in complete darkness. He was confused, happy, sad, and filled with many other emotions that he couldn't name.

He knew he had probably made Doctor Octavius feel as though he had done something wrong by making his hasty get away, but he wasn't ready to face the older man yet. He felt ashamed that he had enjoyed the feeling of the other man on top of him and he was embarrassed by his body's reaction. He wasn't ready to look the other man in the face yet.

He couldn't ever remember feeling the way he had with Octavius before in his life. It was such a strange feeling. It was like mixing excitement, confusion, joy, arousal and love all together into one emotion that was too much to even have a name.

He had felt some of those emotions together before, but not all of them. He was no stranger to 'making love'. Coming from the background he did and having his good looks made girls throw themselves at him and he had taken full advantage of that on a few occasions. But none of those girls had made him feel like this.

Before he had been the one dominating the partner. They had given in fully and he had found it enjoyable but not exactly thrilling.

But with Doctor Octavius, he could tell he was destined to be the one giving in. It scared him but it was thrilling at the exact same time. He remembered the feel of the obvious power the older man held over him and it sent a shiver down his spine.

He loved the feeling.

He could already tell that he would be the 'woman' of the relationship. The thought itself seemed more degrading than anything but he for some horribly odd reason he actually looked _forward_ to it.

But he wasn't quite ready for it yet.

He sighed and leaned back into lying position on his back and folded hid arms behind his head. As always there was no feeling in the left but he was actually growing accustomed to the strange feeling; or lack of feeling.

He remembered noticing the gold wedding band on the doctor's ring finger and he wondered what the man's late wife had been like. From what little he had heard he knew she must have been beautiful. Most likely had been one of those really loving and sweet wives that you could the love in their eyes too.

Zachary tried to imagine what she had looked like. But he didn't know where to start. He didn't know if she had had blonde or brown hair. Maybe she had been a red head or had had raven colored hair. He tried harder. Normally if he thought of real warm loving eyes he pictured them as brown and melted chocolate colored. Brown eyes for some reason you could see warmth in a lot better than blue or green. Octavius seemed like the kind of man who would have gone for a woman with the simple but radiant beauty that you didn't notice next to the typical New York beauty. That probably would have meant she had had either been a dark blonde or a brunette. The brunette seemed to go best with the warm loving brown eyes. He tried to imagine her face, he pictured a warm smile to match the eyes and add to natural beauty.

After he finally reached what he pictured as Octavius's wife the feeling of guilt set in. Now that he had a face to picture he felt like he was looking into the eyes of a woman whose husband he had stole. He felt like he had turned the good doctor into an adulterer. He knew that that was ridiculous, and that the man was actually a widower but still, he pictured those warm brown eyes and he felt like he had stolen something precious from an innocent person.

It turned off any earlier hormone influenced feelings in an instant.

He made an attempt to push the loving figment of his imagination out and like whenever you try to get something out of your head, it became even more clear and prominent.

Groaning in irritation he tried to think of something that would get the poor woman off of his mind.

'Lets' see, football, hitting Brittany Spears with a baseball bat (A/N: Sorry that's something frequently in my mind.) Reno 911, Alice Cooper, candy, Wyatt and Don being morons, Emily being annoying, Doctor Octavius kissing me…'

The last one surprisingly enough shoved everything from his mind and he felt a newly familiar flutter curl up in his belly.

All thoughts of what he imagined as Rosie Octavius disappeared for the time being and he began falling into an enjoyable day dream/ memory of what had happened barely two hours prior.

Slowly he felt his eyes grow heavier and his mind began shutting down, Zachary fell asleep to the memory of Doctor Octavius's lips pressed over his own.

End of Chapter

Sorry, I know it's a bit short. I had to write this real late because I wasn't home all day. I went with my big sister to see Spider-Man 2 for the second time and to get lunch. I was completely starry eyed every time our boi was on screen!! My sister was laughing at me the whole time.

Stray-


	19. Time To Start

Make Me Feel

Disclai…NO! You can't make me say it! (-sticks out tongue-)

Notes: Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I was grounded off of the computer. Any ways, Thank you **anacsadder**, **mythical gurl**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Phendrana**, **Pirate Goddess**, **and Moon Avenger** for all reading and reviewing the chapter. I also thank anybody who read but did not review and anybody who hates it and refrained from sending me a flame.

Chapter 19

The next day when Zachary entered the kitchen Otto wasn't there. After a short moment of confusion he noticed a small note on the table that was being held down by the peppershaker. He picked it up without a moment of hesitation and began to read.

Zachary,

I am still here but I'm very busy working. It's going to be like this for awhile, possibly even for a couple weeks at the most. There is a plate for you in the microwave, just heat it up a bit. I believe I am close to a break through that will help you but I will have barely anytime for leisure. It would be best that you do not disrupt me. I don't know when I will be able to spend time with you and I am sorry.

Sincerely, Otto

After reading the note a second time he set it back down onto the table and checked the microwave. Just as it had said there was a plate of pancakes and breakfast sausages. He set a time and pushed start and went to collapse into one of the chairs.

A break through?

Doctor Octavius had found him a cure?

A sudden swell of unconditional love and utter joy came floating up through his chest like a bright balloon out of a dark hole.

He still hadn't thought of a way to thank and repay the older man for his room, how could he thank the man for something like this? Some thoughts of what he could do came into his mind straight out of the author's utterly perverted one and he immediately pushed all of those from his mind. Now how could he really repay the man?

Zachary was shook from his thoughts by the beeping of the microwave's timer. Getting up he retrieved his now warm breakfast and ate in a dead silence.

After he finished he put his dishes in the sink and retreated to his room where he dressed in the same clothes from the day before and quickly entered the place he retreated to when he listened to his precious headphones.

While Zachary was submerged in his private world Otto was working like a maniac. In the lab he was setting up the containment cylinder and making a control pad. The work had to be taken carefully and steadily in order to refrain from making any miscalculations. If he made even the slightest mistake in the end it could cost the life of an amazing young man.

Otto and Zachary spent their time like this for the next eleven days.

When the cylinder was complete along with the controls there was one last chore that had to be taken care of.

After getting a few hours rest and a brief but refreshing shower Otto approached Zachary's door and knocked. He waited for a moment and there was no answer and he knocked again.

The door opened and there stood Zachary wearing the same outfit he had worn the day of their first encounter. Zachary grinned at the sight of his boyfriend.

"Hey stranger."

Otto couldn't help but chuckle knowing it had been days since he had had any real contact with the boy whom he cared for.

He pulled the boy in for an embrace and a quick lip-lock. They stayed like that for a moment and then he released his hold on the boy.

"We have one last outing to make. Then, it will be time for you to be stabilized."

He stroked the young man's hair as he said this and felt his chest clench at the open hope and trust he saw in the boy's eyes.

"That's great! Let's get going then."

Otto just nodded and led the boy from the building once again. As they traveled above the towering buildings (Zachary wasn't cold for he had worn his coat.) Otto explained a bit to his boy.

"We will stop once at an OsCorp facility and then at a research center. There are a few special chemicals and fluids that are needed."

The research center was the easy one; Ock was in and then out with a metal box in less than a few minutes. The OsCorp one was similar strangely, because Spider-Man never showed and all Otto had to do was fight off a few guards. This made Zachary very edgy.

When they had arrived back at the warehouse Zachary turned to the older man with a very serious expression.

"That was way to easy."

Otto smiled at him reassuringly.

"Don't worry. We were just to fast for him. We were gone before he arrived."

Zachary nodded even though his face showed he was still worried. Otto left and spent the next hour putting the finishing touches on his machine as Zachary watched television.

Zachary looked up when the older man walked into the room wearing a very serious expression on his face.

"It's time."

Zachary suddenly felt very nervous. He followed the older man into the lab and looked up in awe at the great machine.

The cylinder was at least seven feet tall and two feet wide. The tube was made of glass and it had a wide base made of machinery. The top was the same way attaching to the ceiling and a large desk covered in machinery was several feet away.

"You'll need to undress to your boxers."

Zachary nodded in awe struck silence. As he undressed he thought of how familiar the cylinder looked but he couldn't place it.

He placed his clothes in a chair near the door and turned to Otto waiting for instructions. The older man was standing behind the keypad and was pushing various buttons.

There was a strange _swoosh_ sound and Zachary watched the glass walls of the cylinder lower all the way into the base.

"Step up into the center."

Zachary did as he was told and watched as a moment after he took his place the glass walls raised back up into there former position and he was securely locked inside this giant glass tube. His pulse began picking up and he could see Otto standing outside of the tube and behind the keypad. The man smiled at Zachary calmly and pushed a button.

Zachary nearly jumped from his own skin as an oxygen mask fell from the ceiling of the tube and hung in front of him. He took the hint and placed the mask over his mouth and nose making sure the strap was tight and secure around his head.

Nodding Otto turned the room lights off and pushed another button turning on small lights at the base and top of the cylinder.

"Ready?"

Zachary looked up at him with his eyes filled with the utmost trust. He raised both of his hands and gave him double thumbs up.

Nodding and smiling Otto pushed many more buttons and watched as a pale blue liquid began filling inside the cylinder. In just less than three minutes the large tube was full and Zachary was fully suspended. He released a gas like sedative in through the oxygen and he watched the youth quickly pass out and hang limply in the blue liquid. The lights and the color of the fluid gave the dark room an eerie glow.

With the push of many more buttons three thin tubes dipped down from the ceiling of the cylinder and began releasing chemicals into the water. It looked like small bubbles at first. On the control pad there was a small screen that showed a light up version and outline of Zachary's body. The natural areas were shown in pale blue and the spreading stone in dark green.

In his intense concentration, Otto didn't notice the moving shadow near the ceiling of the room.

Until it was too late, of course.

End of Chapter

MUHAHAHA!!!! I wonder who that could be? Hmm…maybe somebody who will ruin everything? Guess we will find out in the next chapter! Thanks for reading and please Review!!

Stray-


	20. Why

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: You know what I'm going to say.

Notes: Yay! Reviews! Thank you **Toilet Paper Roll**, **Pirate Goddess**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Agent Silver**, **Moon Avenger**, **Taimy**, **Lady Sessamaru** and **Repto** for all reviewing.

****

READ: I started a Yahoo! Group as a fanclub to Ock and Granite. If you want to join, just email me and I will send you an invitation. And Agent Silver, I loved the pic. ;)

Chapter 20

"_Father! He's here!"_

Otto was shook to attention by the alarmed cry of his tentacles. Clenching his jaw and feeling a vague sense of panic he continued to manage the controls and gave his children full permission to take care of the arachnid so the stabilization could be finished without a problem.

All four of his tentacles shot out and he forced himself to remain objective and finish the process.

Spider-Man was torn from his hiding place in the shadows when a three-fingered claw grabbed his ankle and another attached itself to his shoulder. Reacting quickly he shot a stream of web to a nearby wall and kicked at the claw holding on to his ankle. Twisting around and throwing kicks and punches he wrenched himself out of the tentacles hold and jumped to the wall that he had webbed.

The tentacles shot out after him knowing that they needed to keep the spider occupied just long enough.

But Spider-Man had other plans than just playing.

He continued the game of keep away with the tentacles until he managed to land down directly behind the containment cylinder. He immediately grabbed hold of the large plug and wires and began pulling.

Otto felt a lurch of rage and fear swell up in his chest and his tentacles each gave a shrill screech and hiss and flung themselves at the masked fighter.

"Stop this! You don't realize what you're doing, you fool!"

Otto's fingers flew over the controls trying to get the process done. But it was only half way finished.

"You're doing something to this kid Doctor Octavius. Don't keep him here like this, he deserves to go home and be away from sick freaks like you!"

The older man's jaw clenched in obvious anger and irritation. The tentacles hissed and made a strong effort to wrench the spider away from the plug but he kept his hold and sparks began sputtering as the wires started giving away.

A horrible beeping sound tore the scientist's attention away from the bug or a moment and he looked down at the screen that showed the basic outline of Zachary's body.

The screen was flashing bright red.

Otto's breath caught in his throat and his tentacles screeched in anger and fear.

"Stop it now! If you continue this, he will **die**!"

In rage the tentacles wrapped around each other making some kind of a strange looking metallic rope. They forcefully hit the spandex clothed arachnid and successfully knocked him up against the far wall and away from the precious cylinder. But in their rush they clumsily sideswiped the glass tube causing a crack to form and slowly spread.

The alarming beeping grew louder and Otto was thrown into a nearly blind panic.

He had no other alternative.

He quickly flipped up a small panel on the controls and firmly pushed the button labeled '**Abort**'.

As he ran out from behind the control panel the pale blue liquid filling the tube began draining out through small drains in the base. As the liquid drained out, there was no longer any support keeping Zachary's limp body up and the boy's lithe body slumped down with the shoulder leaned back against the cracking glass walls.

A rather sorry excuse for a _swoosh _sound was heard and the walls lowered down into the base. Otto grabbed hold of Zachary before the teenager could slump back and fall from the center of the base.

The boy was soaking wet with fluids and extremely limp. The oxygen mask was still in place and Otto quickly removed it from the boy.

"Zachary?"

He pulled the wet teen into his arms cradling him as well as he knew how. He checked the boy's pulse and found it but it was so weak he nearly missed it.

"Ugh…"

Otto looked up and saw the object of all his hate and rage sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. In a protective manner Otto's tentacles lowered down and wrapped themselves around the front of his body and in front of Zachary as if trying to form some kind of barricade.

"Why."

The word came from Otto's mouth not as a statement, question, or even a demand. His voice was completely devoid of all emotion but it was thick. He stared at the masked fighter with eyes that were slightly wide and somewhat glassy.

Spider-Man looked at him with surprise and suspicion even if it couldn't be seen behind his mask.

"Why, what?"

Otto didn't answer right away. He just stared at the bug with his glassy eyes and the wet, barely dressed and barely alive Zachary clutched protectively to his larger chest.

"Why did you do this. You almost killed him. Wasn't it enough that you took Rosie and everything else I had. Did you have to try to take him too."

The words were not said like a question. And for once Spider-Man was nearly speechless.

Nearly speechless, but not quite.

"I didn't kill Rosie. And I didn't kill him. What the hell were you doing to him anyway? You tricked the kid into sleeping with you so you could use him for a science experiment?"

The anger came back full force. One of the tentacles lashed out and clutched Spider-Man's throat. But it didn't add a deadly amount of pressure nor did it fling him around like a rag-doll. It just held him still.

"I'll have you know, we never had intercourse. I'll also have you know that this wasn't an 'experiment'. The boy was dying before you ever showed up. You are aware of his mutation, and it's spreading very quickly. I was stopping the spreading but you ruined the process before I could stabilize him!"

His voice came out as a hissing growl. His eyes still looked glassy but there was more anger and hate in the brown orbs than anyone could ever imagine.

"If I don't rebuild, he's going to die and be preserved as a garden statue."

Spider-man didn't say anything for many minutes. It wasn't because the claw around his throat kept him from talking, it was because he was thinking over his words very carefully.

"Then go. The police will be here soon. Just grab whatever you need and get the heck out of here. Get out of town and find someplace to rebuild. I'll even let you steal a car. Just get out of here before I change my mind."

There was a moment of shocked silence. Slowly, Otto nodded his head and the claw around the spider's neck let go. He stood up with Zachary still cradled in his arms and made a quick run to his study and fetched all of his notes, to his room and stuffed some clothes in a bag along with a picture frame with a picture of Rosie in it. Then he retrieved anything that could be fit back into the backpack belonging to Zachary from the boy's room.

He could now hear sirens approaching and left with his boy in his arms through the back door.

He traveled for many miles and stopped to steal a car (a black SUV to be exact). And stretched Zachary out on the back seat. He covered the still damp and barely clothed boy with the child's own trench coat to keep him covered and warm.

He didn't know where to go, but he did know one thing.

He was leaving New York.

End of Chapter

Okay, I hope that was good. If it's too short, I frankly don't care anymore. Thank you for reading and Please Review!! Oh, and don't forget to email me about the fanclub!

Stray-


	21. Going To

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: You know what I'm going to say.

Notes: I'm taking a guess, but I think you guy's liked that one. Thank you **Pirate Goddess**, **Moon Avenger**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Toilet Paper Roll**, **Repto**, **Lady Sessamaru**, **anacsadder,** and **getfuzzyfan04 **for all reviewing! Oh, and all invitations to the fanclub are still open, just email me. ;)

Chapter 21

After driving for nearly two days straight Otto checked himself and Zachary into a small and slightly rundown motel. He had chosen that particular one because it was cheap enough to not check for his identification but clean enough to not kill him or the still unconscious Zachary from germ override.

He first carried both his and Zachary's bags into the small room then carried in the boy who was still bundled up in his trench coat after making sure they weren't being watched by anyone.

The room was fair sized for a cheap motel. Two uncomfortable looking beds were side by side with a small nightstand in between them. A television positioned infront of them and a small door leading into a rather dirty bathroom. There were cigarette burns in the carpet and the one thing in Otto's mind was to get out of this place as soon as the sun came up.

He laid Zachary out on the bed closest to the bathroom and searched through the boy's bag for a moment. He pulled out a pair of black sweatpants and a dark gray tee shirt with the Nike symbol up in the corner of the left side of the chest.

Being gentle he unwrapped the teenager from the coat and dressed him in the warm clothes. But instead of putting him under the covers he once again laid the coat over him as a blanket. There was no telling what was on the sheets of the bed or when they had last been washed.

Stopping to watch the boy's face he watched the soft intakes of breath and brushed some hair from Zachary's face.

He was sure that the young man would wake any time now. It had been long enough for the body to regain it's strength and he just had to wait for his boy to open his beautiful frosty green eyes.

Sighing heavily Otto rubbed the back of his neck and sat on the side of his bed.

He had no idea where to go.

He was a wanted criminal genius and he didn't know where to go.

God, he was pathetic.

A Few Hours Later

Otto had been dozing lying on his stomach. He had removed his own coat a long while earlier to the happiness of his children and was dozing on his stomach. The tentacles for once were limp and lying sprawled out on the bed in silent shutdown but stirred when a sound penetrated the half-asleep mind of their master.

Zachary was beginning to wake up.

Groaning slightly Otto raised his head and looked over at the other bed where the teen was slowly coming back to consciousness.

This quickly grabbed his attention and he forced himself awake. He sat up completely and moved to a different position so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

Smiling lightly he rubbed the boy's cheek with his hand.

"Zachary."

Two frosty irises appeared and looked up over at him. The boy's eyes were red rimmed but other than that he looked just fine aside from being a little pale.

"Where are we?"

"A motel."

"Thanks for elaborating."

Otto chuckled. Even when weak and just waking up the boy had a bit of sarcastic wit.

"I'm not fully sure exactly where we are. But we aren't in New York City anymore. I believe we are almost out of New York State though."

"Where are we going?"

"Truthfully? I haven't decided yet. We need to go somewhere that I can rebuild the containment cylinder. Spider-Man showed up before we could finish."

Zachary made a sound like a groan but stopped midway through it. Wondering what was wrong Otto looked at the boy's face and saw a look of sudden recognition.

"What's wrong Zachary?"

There was a long pause and the said boy looked at him wide eyed.

"Maybe you won't have to rebuild."

Otto was now rather confused.

"What are you talking about Zachary?"

"You won't need to make a new one."

The boy was sitting up. He was still wide eyed but now he looked excited.

"I had thought the cylinder thing looked familiar, but I wasn't able to remember where I had seen it. But I just remembered. There's a fully built and functional one of those in the Batcave! We can go to Gotham and stay at my house. I'll bet you my life I could convince my sister and mom to let us stay there if I can talk to them. The cave is right under the house, and we have acres of private land. Nobody would ever see us and you can set everything up there!"

Otto's first thought was to say no, but as Zachary described how everything could work, he found himself catching onto the boy's excitement.

"Yes…that would be perfect. But what of the needed fluids and chemicals? We wouldn't be able to steal them with out alerting the public that we had changed bases."

Zachary just smiled and shook his head.

"Doctor Octavius, I don't know if I mentioned this, but I come from a billionaire family. We could buy it and have everything delivered without any questions."

A grin was spreading across Otto's face and he couldn't remember ever having such a good feeling about something.

"Zachary…you're a genius. A somewhat childish and very handsome genius, but a genius no less."

Zachary grinned back at him.

"So…we are going to Gotham?"

Otto just nodded at the boy's hopeful expression.

"Yes, we're going to Gotham."

End Of Chapter

Hey, I'm sorry I'm in a bit of a hurry. I'm about to leave with a friend. Hope you liked it and please review!!!

Stray-


	22. Coming Home

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I'm not saying it anymore.

Notes: So sorry that I didn't update yesterday. My mom dragged to an outing. So, yeah, thank you **Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon**, **Repto**, **Agent Silver**, **elvesmagic101**, **Pirate Goddess**, **Moon Avenger**, **Toilet** **Paper Roll**, **DocOcksGirl31, phendrana, Kippixin**, and **Selene** for all reading and reviewing. Wow, that was a lot of reviews.

Chapter 22

The next morning both men awoke early and prepared to head out.

About two and a half minutes after Zachary had entered the bathroom to shower Otto heard a clear and obvious cry of disgust the moment after he heard the water start.

"What happened?"

He watched as Zachary's head appeared through a crack in the now partially opened door. The boy wore an expression of sheer disgust and horror on his face.

"The waters coming out **black**!"

Otto didn't even try to cover up his amusement. He laughed for a moment then shook his head and looked at the boy's face.

"Well, either don't take a shower, or get out if your leg starts to rot off."

The boy looked at him incredulously and glowered at him. He watched as the boy ducked back into the room and heard the shower be shut off. There was a bit of rustling and Zachary emerged fully dressed but still looking very disgusted. The youth walked towards his bed muttering under his breath, Otto was only able to catch one line of it though.

"…sickest damn thing ever…"

They left not long after that. Otto didn't even bother going to check them out, they just got in the car (SUV) and left.

Just like any car ride they would talk for a small while and drift off into silence and then talk for a moment and then sit in silence. After a particularly long stretch of silence Zachary decided he needed to focus on something. Chewing his lip he glanced over at the older man next to him.

"Can we listen to some music?"

Otto looked over at the boy's hopeful look and smiled.

"Alright."

Zachary grinned happily and twisted in his seat so that he could reach into the back seat and search through his bag. He pulled out his c.d. book and opened it searching through the pages for something.

Taking a glance at the older man out of the corner of his eye he quickly ruled out Limp Bizkit, Metallica, System of a Down, Alice Cooper, ACDC, Kid Rock, Puddle of Mud, P.O.D, Trapt, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, KISS, and about three fourths of his entire collection.

Frowning he flipped towards the back of the book and suddenly grinned when he hit pay dirt. He skillfully removed the disc and fed it into the player.

There was a pause after the music started and Otto looked over at Zachary somewhat curiously.

"Who is this singing?"

"This is Warren Zevon. He's one of my favorites but I don't listen to him as often as I should."

Otto nodded and they fell back into silence. About an hour and a half later the c.d. was starting it's 22nd and last track when Otto began listening very closely to the song's lyrics.

__

I've got a bitter pot of je ne sais quoi

Guess what-I'm stirring it with a monkey's paw

Since I saw you coming out of my barber's shop

In that skimpy little halter top

Did you light the candles? Did you put on

"Kind of Blue"?

Did you use that Ivy League voodoo on him, too?

He thinks he'll be alright but he doesn't know for sure

Like every other unindieted coconspirator

Mata Hari had a house in France

Where she worked on all her secret plans

Men were falling for her sight unseen

She was a genius

There's a face in every window of the

Songwriters' Neighborhood

Everybody's your best friend when you're doing

well-I mean good

The poet who lived next door when you were young

and poor

Grew up to be a backstabbing entrepreneur

Albert Einstein was a ladies' man

While he was working on his universal plan

He was making out like Charlie Sheen

He was a genius

When you dropped me and staked your claim

On a V.I.P. who could make your name

You latched onto him and I became

A minor inconvenience

Your prot'ege' don't care about art

I'm the one that always told you you were smart

You broke my heart to smithereens

And that took genius

You and the barber make a handsome pair

Guess what-I never liked the way he cut your hair

I didn't like the way he turned your head

But there's nothing I can do or say I haven't done

or said

Everybody needs a place to stand

And a method for their schemes or scams

If I could only get my record clean

I'd be a genius

The music ended and the disc rolled out.

Otto suddenly had a very large lump in his throat. The lyrics of that song had somehow struck very close to home.

"What was that song called?"

Zachary looked up at him while removing the disc and smiled not seeing how troubled the older man was.

"That was 'Genius'. One of Warren Zevon's masterpieces."

Otto nodded and fell back into silence.

Three Days Later

Zachary was sleeping slumped up against the window as Otto drove. It was about eight thirty in the evening and Otto smiled when he saw a sign up ahead. He looked over at the boy and nudged him. Zachary snapped awake and looked over at him in surprise.

"What?"

The older man grinned and pointed up ahead. Zachary's eyes followed and a huge grin plastered itself on his youthful face.

****

Gotham City this Exit

In less than ten minutes they were driving into Gotham and Zachary was looking out the window looking as if he was oozing with excitement. He was excited all of a sudden because he had just realized that he was going **home**. He was going to sleep in his bed and see his mom and Emily. He was, at the moment, almost hyper.

Otto on the other hand was looking out at the city in a confused matter. The sky here was cloudy gray even at night, it looked more polluted and full of litter than New York ever did. And the people were all bundled up and walking around looking like they were either possible criminals, possible victims, or like they were the living dead.

But he could see Zachary's happiness to be returning to his hometown, and didn't make any remarks on the state of the city.

Zachary gave the older man the directions to the Wayne Estate and in less than an hour they pulled up in front of the gate.

Otto was, quite frankly, in shock. Zachary had said they had lots of land, he had said they had a big house, he had said that they were rich. But this home would have put Osbourn to shame. It was like a small castle, a very creepy looking small castle.

Otto pulled right up to the gate and Zachary got out to punch in the code that would open it. There was a whining screech of metal and the gates swung open.

Zachary hopped back into the car and talked as Otto drove down the very long driveway.

"You're going to love it here. My mom is this really nice lady and my sister…well, she's annoying but I think you might like her. Alfred is our main servant, but he's like family. He took care of my dad when my dad was a kid."

Otto listened to the boy talk but in truth he feared what might happen. It hadn't come to the boy that his family might not be willing to take him back in. They might disown him the moment they see him. But he didn't want to say anything that would hurt the boy.

Otto parked in front of the front door and watched as Zachary leapt from the vehicle the moment it was turned off.

"Don't worry about any of our things or the car. We can just send one of the servants to do it for us later."

Otto shook his head and got out of the car himself. He paused to stretch and listened to his children whine about having to stay hidden. Mentally he told them to wait a while until everything had been properly worked out.

He joined Zachary on the porch of the mansion and watched him pull out a very old looking brass key and unlock the door. The boy made room for Otto to walk in ahead of him and then shut and locked the door behind them.

Zachary grinned at him.

"I know where my mom will be right now. Just follow me."

Otto followed the boy through the huge home with a sense of awe as he looked around them. The halls were magnificent and filled with no doubt priceless bits of art and antiques. Yes, this made Harry look like a middle class worker.

Zachary stopped in front of a large pair of oak doors that were already open. Inside looked like a rich sitting room. With a large fireplace, which was currently lit and plush antique looking furniture along with even more art.

A woman sat looking away from them and into the fireplace. She was wearing an expensive black dress that clung to her generous curves and long chestnut colored hair flowed down to her waist.

Zachary made a hand motion telling Otto to stand in the dark doorway and he took a couple steps into the room while making no noise.

"Hi mamma."

The woman whipped around instantly and looked at her sheepish looking son standing just feet away from her. Her sea foam green eyes were just like her son's only they were a bit warmer and a tiny bit darker and she stared at the boy as if he were a ghost. Her mouth opened several times but nothing came out.

Then, the tears began to fall.

The woman cried and stood up taking a hesitant step towards her son as if she feared he would disappear if she came to close. She held up her hands as if she wanted to embrace him but was scared he would fade away.

"Zachary."

Her voice was soft and hushed and she didn't see Otto standing in the darkened doorway, all she saw was her first born standing just feet away from her arms.

The woman suddenly launched forward and wrapper her arms around her baby boy and sobbed from joy when she realized that he was solid under her touch.

Zachary squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled the smell of his mother's perfume and felt her warm arms around him. She hugged him and kissed his cheeks, sobbing the entire time.

She began saying "my boy," over and over again like a broken record.

Otto in the doorway felt like he was watching something that was sacred and holy. He could see the joy, love, and sadness that seemed to reek from the woman and felt suddenly very out of place.

The woman moved back a step and took a deep breath. She placed both of her hands on her son's face and looked at him still teary-eyed. To her, it was as if her child had returned from the dead.

"Oh Zachary, where have you been? The media said that you…that you…_joined_ with that Octavius man."

Simultaneously both Zachary and Otto flinched.

Zachary gently reached up and touched his mother's hands on his face and gently pulled them down. He held on to them and looked into his weeping mother's eyes.

"Mamma, I…would like you to meet Otto Octavius. He's my, well, my boyfriend, I guess you could say."

He turned to Otto in the doorway and the older man took a few steps into the room and into the light. His hands were clasped in front of him and he was wearing his coat and sunglasses. But he made an attempt to look at the woman pleasantly.

Teresa stared at the man with her mouth slightly ajar. She looked from her son in disbelief and then back to the older man. Slowly, her look of disbelief melted and was replaced with pure anger. She stepped away from her son and took an angry stomp towards the scientist.

"What did you do to him?! Zachary was a good boy; you turned him into a wanted criminal! I would think that would be enough for a monster! Did you have to warp his poor mind like **that** you freak?!"

In her anger she took several more steps toward the man and slapped him as hard as she could across the face. The second after she slapped him, she realized she had slapped a super villain. Startled she took several steps back and waited for him to do something to her.

But, of course, he didn't.

He just looked up at the angered mother calmly and touched where there was a warm sting was on his cheek.

"You have every right to be angry and suspicious of my intentions, Madam. But, I assure you, that I have not bestowed any harm upon you son. I have only been interested in helping him as best I can, we…just, I guess you could say, fell for each other while together alone for all that time."

Teresa watched him with some suspicion and turned to her son who was looking at her with the look of a kicked puppy.

"I love him mamma. Let us stay, please?"

Teresa was genuinely startled, but so was Otto. The boy had never admitted out loud that he loved the older man. Otto felt very touched and felt his own love for the boy grow ten folds.

Teresa looked from her son to…his…partner and sighed.

"I'm not losing my baby again. You can stay, both of you."

End of Chapter

Yeah!! Hope you guys like this. I worked really hard. Make sure you really read the lyrics of that song and if your interested look up the song and listen to it. Thanks for reading and please review!!

Stray-


	23. Tea?

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I won't say it. My lips are sealed.

Notes: Yay!! Reviews!! Again!! Thank you **Goldbryn Callow Lyte**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Repto**, **Kippixin**,

****

Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon, angelgardian666, and **Agent Silver** for all reviewing! I'm doing good. I'm afraid of what will happen when this ends…

Chapter 23

Zachary grinned and hugged his mother affectionately.

"Don't worry mamma, you'll love Doctor Octavius! And his tentacles aren't that scary after you get used to them."

Teresa looked at her son with a look that a mother has when she is deathly worried about something but knows not to speak her thoughts aloud. She glanced over at the man who had invaded her family and worried about her daughter. She knew nothing of Octavius, for all she knew he was actually a predator preying on her innocent boy and would do the same to her precious baby girl.

She rubbed her temples and briefly wondered of the extensive therapy her poor babies would need after this whole _ordeal_ was over with. She prayed that it would be soon. In her mind she believed that her son was simply suffering from an infatuation and that it would run it's course and he would see his mistakes and leave that monster and go date one of the pretty daughters of some colleague of hers.

She just needed to ride this out until that happened.

Swallowing and looking at her little boy's smiling face she snaked another glance at Octavius and walked over to the table next to her earlier spot of depressed brooding. She pressed a small button on the intercom and waited a moment.

"_Yes Madam_?"

Alfred's distinguished aging voice rose from the small speakers on the small black box.

"Alfred, Master Zachary had returned along with," She glanced over at Octavius. "a friend. Be a dear and bring us some tea."

"_Master Zachary? He's returned? Of course Madam, I will arrive momentarily._"

There was a brief tone of surprise and relief in the elderly man's voice. Alfred had been like a father to Bruce, and like a grandfather to Zachary. He had been heartbroken when the boy had disappeared. A small click was heard and the line of the intercom went dead.

Teresa turned back to her son and her unwanted guest and softly cleared her throat. She smoother out non-existing wrinkles in her beautiful black dress and forced a smile onto her face.

"Please sit down and make yourself comfortable Mr. Octavius. You must be tired after traveling all the way here from New York."

Her tone was laced with politeness and sugar and was obviously very forced. But she was trying and after all that had happened, Otto couldn't blame her for her attitude towards the situation.

"It's Doctor Octavius, actually. I am truly sorry that Zachary and I had you so worried. No mother should have to go through what you have."

He took several slow steps forward and lowered himself down onto the plush love seat that was directly across from the sofa. Teresa then stiffly yet elegantly seated herself back into her earlier seat of choice. Zachary looked at the two adults with a sense of hurt disappointment but not complete surprise. He could feel the tension and sighed very softly.

Otto watched as Zachary took a couple long strides towards him and joined him on the love seat. Instinctively he wrapped his arm around the boys shoulders and pulled him closer. Zachary was more than happy to oblige and leaned against the older man's side. Otto's hands almost as if on their own accord began lightly rubbing the teenager's back.

Teresa's right eye twitched.

She did not like the sight of her baby _cuddling_ with a monster/menace. But she bit down on her tongue and forced a smile. She didn't want to upset Zachary. A new hypothesis of what was going on came to her. Her baby had been very vulnerable while away from her and his home and had just turned to Octavius for affection while in such a state. He hadn't known that it was wrong, he had just given in to what he thought was love when Octavius had…she didn't want to think about it. But what mattered was that Zachary had at least convinced the monster to let him come home to his mother's waiting arms.

She looked up at the door with a brief but genuine smile when the aging Alfred walked in. He was skillfully carrying an antique silver tray ladled with teacups a small delicate looking teapot and a little plate of crumpets.

"Your tea Madam."

Teresa smiled at the dear man and made a motion for him to set the tray on the mahogany coffee table between the sofa and love seat.

"Thank you Alfred, you're such a dear."

He nodded and gently set the tray down and began pouring tea into the little china cups with decades of skilled practice.

"It is good to see you home and well, Master Zachary."

It came out sounding very professional but both Teresa and Zachary knew the man was truthfully over joyed to see the teen home and joining his mother for tea.

"It is good to be home Alfred."

The elderly servant nodded and allowed a rare smile to grace his aging face. He handed a cup and saucer to the woman of the room first then one to Zachary. He stopped and looked at Otto with professional curiosity.

"Tea? Mister…"

"Doctor Octavius. And yes please."

Alfred nodded and then paused for a split second when he recognized the name. He knew his boundaries though, and poured the man a cup and handed it to him on a saucer. Otto took it with a quiet 'thank you" and held it carefully knowing it was most likely an antique or just really expensive.

"May I get you anything else?"

Teresa sipped her tea and gently set it down on the polished wood table.

"No Alfred, that is all."

The older man was just turning to leave when Zachary finished a quick sip from his own cup and set it down on the table.

"Wait a moment Alfred."

When the man stopped and turned to the teenager Zachary looked at Otto.

"I think you should let them out now. This way we won't have to worry about poor Alfred suffering from a shocked heart attack later on."

Otto looked at the boy's serious face and set his cup on the table along with all the others. He looked up at the other adults and spoke seriously.

"You might want to brace yourselves. My children have a knack for startling people horribly."

Teresa and Alfred glanced at each other in confusion and a light feeling of dread. Both were confused by him saying his 'children'. Both watched him reach behind himself and grasp the flap on the back of his dark green trench coat and pull it away.

The tentacles raised up slowly like snakes, their heads snapped open causing both adults to jump in surprise and poor Alfred took several shaky steps back. But the tentacles relaxed and began examining their new surroundings curiously. One came forward and lightly prodded Teresa's shoulder and the woman jerked away and glared at the man.

"Stop that."

The edges of Otto's lips quirked and he tried not to smile.

"That wasn't me. The tentacles have artificial intelligence and when I have no direct commands to give them, they do as they please. Do not be alarmed, they are merely curious and are exploring."

The woman looked startled and looked back at the tentacle that had reopened its head and was getting right up in her face. It cocked its head slightly and seemed to be studying her.

"What are those lights?"

She looked uncomfortable by having it so close to her face but a spark of real curiosity was in her eyes.

"Cameras. They each have cameras built in and that allows them too not only see, but to relay images to my mind allowing me to see what they do. I can willingly shut out the images at any time I want, and then I can uncover them. It's like covering and uncovering one of your actual eyes, you gain and lose a sense of perspective when you do it."

The woman nodded shakily and looked over at Alfred who was also being examined.

"You are excused if you want Alfred."

The old man nodded and looked at the tentacle that was staring at him and making small chittering noises. He hesitantly took a step back with his eyes never leaving the tentacle that watched him. When he was sure it wouldn't make an attempt to stop him, he made a hasty pace out of the room.

The tentacle studying Teresa grew bored and joined its brothers in exploring the room. Teresa watched them and felt a sense of alarm when they began poking around.

"Tell them to not break anything."

Otto smiled at her and his eyes twinkled behind his dark glasses.

"Don't be alarmed Ms. Wayne. I instructed them to be careful before I released them. I assure you, nothing will be harmed."

She looked at him stiffly and picked up her tea. Grudgingly she wished she had ordered Alfred to fetch her something harder, she was starting to think she would need it.

"Now, there is something very serious I need to discuss with you. It is the reason Zachary and I came here and it is something extremely important."

Teresa's eyes snapped onto the scientists face and her elegant eyebrows furrowed. She looked at her darling son who was even more cuddled up against the older man, and she noticed he now looked downcast and a bit sad.

She did not like where this was going.

"What is it?"

Her voice was sharp and guarded; she could tell something was wrong. Otto looked up at the woman's face and assumed his doctor state of mind.

"Were you aware that Zachary was experimented on as an infant?"

Teresa suddenly felt as though a glacier had crashed down upon her. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed an 'o'. She remembered what had happened at the hospital all those years ago. She and Bruce had always assumed that they had been lucky.

"But…the people at the hospital said only the babies in that one section had been injected. And all of those children had been cured before the serum could take affect."

Otto suddenly looked even more serious.

"Are you trying to tell me that they didn't check **all** of the children? Didn't it occur to them there might have been more?"

It disgusted him to think the staff of that building could have been so stupid.

"I don't know! They wanted to keep it as quiet as possible. What happened to Zachary? What did it do to him?"

Otto could see the woman was getting dangerously close to hysterics. He would have to be blunt.

"Zachary will be alright as long as I can use the containment cylinder in the cave under the house. You will need to order some fluids for me, but I can stabilize him in less than a few days."

The woman stared at him and nodded.

"Yes, you can use whatever you want. But what's wrong with him?"

He sighed and looked down at the crown of black hair leaning on his shoulder.

"Zachary, you need to show your mother."

Two frosty eyes looked up at him and he could see the fear and dread in those lovely orbs. The boy wasn't afraid of admitting to the woman that he was gay or that he was with a criminal, but he was afraid she would not accept what was to be his permanent appearance.

The boy swallowed the hard lump in his throat and moved away from his love's embrace and stood up. He didn't look at his mother as he removed his trench coat and pulled off his shirt.

Silence.

He forced himself to look up at his mother's face and cringed at her frozen look of horror. Her eyes were bulging and her face had drained of all color. Her hands had flown up and were clamped over her mouth. What Teresa was doing, was forcing herself to restrain the urge to scream.

"Mamma?"

His voice came out small and hesitant. He wanted the floor to swallow him whole so he wouldn't have to see her look of utter horror anymore. He wanted her to say something, anything. He watched her hands fall from her face.

"Oh Zachary…I…I can't handle this."

He watched her stand and swiftly walk from the room.

That wasn't how he wanted her to react. That's the reason he had run away. He felt a sudden hole in his chest and he felt himself begin to cry.

He felt a large warm pair of arms wrap around him from behind and he turned to look up at Otto's face. The older man looked sad, sad for him. He wrapped his arms around the older man's neck and buried his face into the man's large strong chest. Large arms enfolded him in a protective embrace and he felt the man press his own face into his hair.

The tentacles came forward and formed a barricade around the couple but kept a fair distance. They loved their father and the boy, but being made of metal made them fear salt water.

End of Chapter

Okay, I think this is a really good one personally. Please tell me what you think. Please review and thanks for reading!!

Stray-


	24. Teddybear?

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: Not going to say it!!!

Notes: I got even more reviews! Thank you **Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon**, **Moon Avenger**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Seta Firetail**, **anacsadder**, **Repto**, **Agent Silver, Toilet Paper Roll** and** Pirate Goddess** for all reviewing. By the way, **_anacsadder_**, you hit the nail on the head about Zachary's mom. I was wondering when somebody would see it from her point of view.

Chapter 24

The next morning...

Otto was still sleeping in the room Zachary had shown him to the night before. The sleeping area was bigger than the entire apartment Rosie and he had lived in before the accident. Not to mention a huge walk in closet and an amazing bathroom were also joined onto it. It was just two doors down the hall from Zachary's own bedroom.

Zachary had woken up at about eight, being unable to sleep in for some reason. He knew that Doctor Octavius had been exhausted the night before and expected the older man to sleep in for once.

Deciding he didn't want to just sit in his room waiting for the older man to wake up, he got out of bed and rummaged through his closet. It felt good to be back in his own room, and to know he wasn't restricted to only a few outfits.

He dressed quickly into a pair of clean boxers, a pair of black gothic pants with green trim and zippers all over the place that were so baggy they barely hung on his slim 'boy hips'. He dug around for a few more minutes trying to find a shirt that he wanted to wear. He finally decided on a black tee shirt with the Slytherin crest printed on the front in purposely-faded colors. He pulled on some socks and his boots and stopped in front of his huge full profile mirror to do a quick acne check (there was none, thank God) and to straiten his mussed hair. As always, his bangs were a lost cause.

Rubbing the back of his head he left his room and stopped in front of Doctor Octavius's door to make sure the older man was indeed still asleep. He quietly pressed his ear against the door and grinned when he heard the sound of a soft snore from inside. Shaking his head while having his grin still present he walked away and made the long trek through the winding halls and corridors of the huge house. He made a mental note to come check on Doctor Octavius in an hour or two. If the man left his room alone he would easily get lost in the mansion.

He was walking into the absolutely huge and plush living room (a different one) when he heard that the television (a very expensive and huge plasma) was on. He stopped in the doorway and listened to what was on.

"_…We are beautiful…no matter what they say…words can't bring us down.."_

Christina Aguilera.

Only one person in there family listened to Christina Aguilera. Though that one song was the only one Zachary would listen too, (only if it was on the radio), only one person actually owned c.d.'s and watched music videos of her.

He turned and took a few steps into the room, and on the brown leather couch he could see a head of shoulder length black hair. Zachary couldn't help but to grin evilly at his luck. He crossed his arms across his chest and his evil grin never faltered.

"You still listen to that crap Em? I was hoping you would have developed taste while I was gone."

(A/N: I am not a Christina Aguilera basher. There are a few songs from her stripped album I will listen to if it's on the radio, but Zachary is a seventeen year old boy teasing his little sister. Again, I am not a basher but I am not a fan either.)

The raven-haired head whipped around so quickly that Zachary wondered how her head and neck remained joined. A pair of wide blue eyes gawked at him and the girl's pink mouth hung open in a large 'o'. Emily stared at her brother in utter shock and surprise and the boy in question noted that she wasn't dressed in her school uniform. Instead, she was wearing a dark blue baby tee, with 'Justin Timberlake's Official Stalker' printed on it in fancy pale pink letters. He was far enough in the room to see over the low couch back to see her custom made hip-huggers.

Then the same banshee shriek/girlie squeal he had grown to loathe erupted from her throat. And it had never sounded so beautiful in his home sick ears.

"Oh my God! Zack your home!!!"

He watched her leap around from the front of the couch and run at him in her girlie way. He grinned even wider when she threw her slim arms around his neck and glomped him. He wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back affectionately.

"Yep, I'm back. I got in last night, you must have been sleeping or had your headphones on."

She made a sound that was muffled by having her face pressed into the front of his shirt. She released her hold on his neck and her hands slid down so that they rested on hi shoulders. She looked at him with bright blue eyes filled with unshed tears. But she was smiling and he knew she was happy to see him.

"Where have you been you jerk? I stopped listening to the news weeks ago 'cause of all the weird stuff they were saying."

Zachary's grin faltered for a moment and he noticed she had yet to see his arm. He was surprised she hadn't been confused when she had hugged him since the left side of his chest and almost all of his left side was now solid stone. The stuff was even creeping towards his abs now. But he knew (or hoped) that Emily would take what he had to say better than their mother. It was because Em was so young and went with things a lot easier than an adult would. The great thing about fourteen year olds.

"Em, you know how the news said I joined with that DocOck guy?"

He paused and waited until he saw her eager nod.

"Well, that was true. And…well…me and him, are…well…**_with_** each other. He's staying in one of the guest rooms."

And her reaction…a blank stare. Then…a squeal of delight?

"Oh. My. God! This is sooooo perfect! My brother is dating a evil genius hottie!"

Now it was Zachary's turn to exhibit a blank stare as the girl began bouncing up and down in girlish delight. The girl was positively starry eyed.

"Huh? You're not mad that I'm gay? Or that I'm with a criminal? Or that that criminal is old enough to be our dad?"

The younger teen stopped bouncing and turned to him with one hand on her hip. She was giving him the classic look of 'are you crazy?'

"I'm not mad. It's so cute though! He's a total sweetheart whether the news people will admit it or not. He's like a big teddy bear with an IQ of like a thousand. And he's here?! God, I can't wait to meet him! Oh, don't worry Zackie, I'm not gonna try to steal your man."

She began giggling and twirling in place as she tried to fantasize what it would be like if Gotham allowed gay marriage. The thought of her brother and Doc freakin' Ock together made her completely giddy.

Zachary was still in shock. That had gone over way better than he could have ever imagined. Then he wondered if she was so okay with that, what would she do about his stone. Bust out the champagne and start a party?

"Well, Em, don't you wanna know why I left in the first place?"

This grabbed back her attention. She looked at him in the face eagerly and nodded her head. He nodded to her and stuck out his left arm. Her eyes traveled to it and widened in shock. She looked from it, to his face, and then back to it for several more times.

Hesitantly her hand lifted and approached his arm and touched her finger tips to the smooth but rough surface of his stone skin. As always there was a pang of hurt that he couldn't feel the touch from his own sister.

"God…can you feel me?"

He smiled sadly.

"No, I have no feeling in it at all. And it's all over me too. But I'm not going to undress just so you can see all of it."

Emily stared up at her brother's face and tried to think of something to make him smile a real smile. She loved getting a rise out of him and bugging him, but she didn't want her big brother to be so sad.

"Well, at least you have Ock to make you feel in _other_ ways in _other_ places."

She grinned evilly at his gawking expression and then he smiled.

"Em, you are the perviest 14 year old I know."

She burst out laughing and he soon followed. It felt good to laugh with his little sister again, he just hoped his mother would lighten up when she saw how she was outvoted about Doctor Octavius. He wanted the older man to feel welcomed into his family.

"You want to watch t.v. with me?"

Zachary grinned at his baby sister's proposal and nodded.

"Yeah, but we are changing the channel."

"Nuh-uh!"

A few minutes later the wresting match over the television remote turned into a giggling tickling match and the remote was soon forgotten in the horseplay.

End of Chapter

I know, it was short. But hey, it was sweet and funny to, so there! Hehe, I'm just kidding. Thank you for reading and please review!! P.S. I'm redoing this because it didn't work yesterday.

Stray-


	25. Dragonfly

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: (-sticks out tongue and runs away cackling-)

Notes: Okay, I couldn't update yesterday, I was gone most of the day shopping for school clothes (I went to Hot Topic and rocked my own world) and when I finally got home my mom wouldn't let me use the computer long enough to even start a chapter. Anyway, thank you **Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon**, **Pirate** **Goddess**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **anacsadder**, **Agent Silver**, **Moon Avenger**, **Goldbryn Callow Lyte**, **Seta** **Firetail,** and **slash addict** for all reviewing!!

Chapter 25

When it was time to go check on Otto, Zachary and Emily were lying in an exhausted pile of tangled limbs on the floor in front of the television. One thing that the two siblings had never grown to old for was a good tickling match. Neither of the two had ever had a real advantage over the other, Zachary may have always been bigger, but Emily was a lot more bendy, and it had never helped either of them since they were both deathly ticklish.

But both had found out that Zachary had a new advantage in having no feeling in nearly half of his entire left side. At first Emily had thought he would be depressed when they had realized this, but she had found he was fine as long as she could get to other non-stone ticklish areas.

Zachary began detaching himself from his sister and made an effort to stand. Both of the teens were winded and their chests hurt slightly from laughing so hard. (A/N: that's what it was always like with my brother.) While he sat up he looked down at Emily and smiled at her red flushed and slightly tear streaked face. Emily had always been the type that would start crying when she laughed too hard.

The fourteen year old grinned back and brushed some of her fairly long hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. She too began sitting up and looked at her brother as he turned away from her.

Emily had entered a deep pit of teenage depression when her brother had disappeared. It hadn't helped the slightest when her friend Ashton (a girl) had said that he had most likely committed suicide or had been kidnapped and raped. Emily wasn't even sure why she hung out with Ashton, the girl was obsessed with sex crimes and wanted to be a special victims detective like the characters from her favorite show, Law and Order: SVU. Which didn't make any sense when you found out that her parents were rich (not nearly as rich as Emily's family) and owned a horse track.

But Emily was happier than she ever remembered being knowing that not only was her brother home but also dating a man who she had fantasized over for a fair amount a time. Of course she had never mentioned her teenage obsession to her mother knowing that the woman most likely would have burst a blood vessel being so wound up in believing the man had kidnapped and seduced her baby boy.

That was the one thing both Emily and Zachary had always not liked about their mother. She was overly protective. It hadn't even hit her that Zachary was almost eighteen and would graduate and leave for collage soon. To her, a seventeen and fourteen year old was still a baby that had to hold her hand.

It had been their father who had always set their mother straight about things. He would convince her that they were too old for this, that they were old enough for that. He had convinced their mother that Zachary's gothic look was perfectly innocent, when she had been convinced only bad children and devil worshipers dressed like a Goth. The woman still obsessed over her belief that the shirts Emily wore were too tight for a little girl her age. Emily had actually been wearing perfectly normal baby tees; she had to because if she did wear something tight, her mother would find out about her bellybutton being pierced. Something Emily had neglected mentioning for a really good reason.

The girl stood up with the help of the hand offered by her brother, who pulled her to her feet. She paused to straighten her hair and adjust her shirt when she noticed it was riding up and also to make sure her little dragonfly navel ring wasn't showing through the fabric. Last thing she needed was somebody noticing a small bump in the front of her shirt.

Too late.

"What was that poking out of your shirt?"

Emily looked up at her brother's face with a look of a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. She noticed his raised eyebrow and glanced around the room as if to check for an unwanted audience.

"You have to promise you won't tell mamma."

He shrugged and nodded.

"Alright."

She nodded back and pulled her shirt up so it was just less than a centimeter above her bellybutton. The little pink crystal dragonfly glinted and sparkled in the light and she held the fabric up just long enough for him to get a good look, and then pulled the shirt down and adjusted it so no bump could be seen.

She looked up at her brother and rolled her eyes at his half sincere half mock look of being impressed. Then the look turned to mock pride and he wiped away a non-existing tear.

"Aww…my baby sister is a preppy alternative. I'm so proud."

She pouted and rolled her eyes. Shoving his shoulder hoping to knock him back (to no avail) she suddenly grinned evilly.

"Don't you have to go check on your sugar daddy?"

She laughed as his jaw dropped and he gawked at her. But she laughed even harder when he started blushing uncontrollably.

"He's not my sugar daddy, he's…my life partner."

He mumbled this while still blushing and she watched him walk from the room with his head ducked down in embarrassment. Preppy little sister 1; gothic big brother 0.

End of Chapter

Yeah, I know this is painfully short. But don't worry, Otto will be ever present in the next chapter. Wow, I can't believe I've been working on this story for so long now. Huh…I started losing interest in the other ones, but I am going to finish them. Eventually. But this one…this has to be my masterpiece! Thank you for reading and please review!!!!

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	26. Straddled

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: (-flips you the bird and runs away-)

Notes: Hmm…am I a Goth? (-looks down at clothes and inspects journal-) I guess I would have to say yes. Thank you **Pirate Goddess**, **Goldbryn Callow Lyte, Agent Silver**, **elvesmagic101, DocOcksGirl31**, and **phendrana** for all reading and reviewing.

Chapter 26

Zachary was still blowing on his burn when he finally reached Otto's room. It had just hit him that the jokes running through Emily's head with his 'coming out' were going to inflict some major burns. And the worst part is that Emily never let anything go, and would be coming up with more and more new jokes and dents to his ego as time went by.

He checked a priceless antique chime clock on his way to the older man's room and saw that it was twenty-six after nine. If the older man wasn't already up, Zachary decided it would be okay to wake the man up so that they could join Emily for a mid-morning breakfast. It was a meeting that Zachary was very curious to witness.

He reached the door and pressed his ear against the wood and listened carefully for any sounds of movement. He snickered when he caught another soft snore and quietly as possible turned the brass doorknob and pushed the large slab of polished wood inward. He steeped into the room and quietly closed the door behind himself.

The room was dim; the section of the building that Zachary lived in was in towards the center of the house. Therefor no windows and all light had to be obtained through lamps and lights. Naturally there were none on, but it wasn't completely dark.

On the far side of the room was a canopy bed large enough for four or five adult men to comfortably sleep in. Zachary took quiet steps towards it and saw that the huge bed managed to succeed in making the large older man look small. Otto was lying on his stomach with the four tentacles sprawled out limply and lazily across the huge bed. His normal arms were wrapped around a pillow he was hugging against his chest with his face pressed down into the clean white cover. (A/N: Awww….)

Zachary glanced over to a chair that had been pulled out slightly from an old vanity table and mirror and noted the trench coat, under coat, and shirt that had been as neatly as possible folded over the back.

Every few seconds there was a soft snore from the sleeping figure and Zachary realized that this was the first time that he had witnessed the other man sleeping. A part of him didn't want to wake the man, but it would be best to if they wanted to join the annoying little sister for breakfast.

He went up along the side of the bed that Otto wasn't closest to the edge of and bent down so he could see the man's sleeping face. He grinned at the peaceful look of the doctor and gave a start when he heard a click.

Turning he saw that one of the tentacles had raised its head just a couple inches off of the comforter and was watching him curiously. Zachary watched it for a moment and smiled. He lifted his hand up to his face and used his pointer finger to make the 'shush' sign over his lips.

The tentacle cocked its head to the left slightly and then nodded.

Zachary smiled and turned back to the sleeping scientist. He looked at the mussed curly hair and watched as he lifted his own hand to gently run his fingers through the curly brown locks. Being that he was using his right hand he focused his senses on the texture and the feel of the curls and to him at that moment, it seemed almost magical. He added a little more pressure and lightly rubbed the man's scalp along with his hair and watched the older man mumble and shift his position slightly.

"Hey handsome, time to wake up."

His voice was soft and low, it felt to speak at normal volume would disrupt the peaceful and almost magical moment.

A pair of sad looking brown eyes opened and regarded him through a fog of sleepiness. The tentacles spread over the bed began moving and stretching knowing that they could do this without fear of disturbing their father.

The man pushed himself up onto the pillow and reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes. When he moved, the covers slid down off his shoulders and his now pushed up position presented Zachary with a fair view of the man's skin, and the sight of how the brace along the man's spine looked as if welded on. Zachary forced himself to not stare at the metal on the man's back, and tried to focus on something else. Like his shoulders or his bare chest with the small manbreasts.

Otto looked up at the boy and Zachary now forced focus away from the man's partially bare body to his face and eyes. Which was hard with the blush he believed was creeping across his cheeks. It was odd; he had seen the man without a shirt before, but that had been before they had 'hooked up'.

"Time to wake up already?"

Zachary saw the glint in the man's eyes and he noticed the beginnings of a grin on the man's lips. He smiled at the older man and casually reached up to play with a curl of hair hanging into Otto's forehead.

"I've been up for almost a couple hours now. I figured it was about time to drag you out of bed and force you to face my sister. I talked to her already, she's dying to meet you."

Otto nodded and Zachary watched with a sudden pang of suspicion when a wicked grin crossed the large man's face. He was then taken by surprise when a tentacle that had snuck up behind him grabbed him pulling him up onto the bed. Otto grinned even wider and rolled over sitting up with some assistance from his children and then used the smaller tentacles for pulling the startled boy on top of himself and caught the teenager's lips with his own.

Zachary was trying to not laugh and kissed back. He felt one heavy hand clutch his shoulder and the other slid down his body onto his waist. Deciding to participate he wrapped his arms around Otto's neck and one hand journeyed back up to the curly hair that he was suddenly oh so fond of.

They stayed in that straddled position until it started taking a turn that Zachary wasn't quite ready for. The hand on his hip had started an innocent rubbing motion but then slipped up under his shirt and making much more intimate touches on his lower stomach, then began going lower…

Zachary pulled away suddenly and his hands left their stations to fly down and pull the man's hand away from where it had been trying to dip down through the waist of his pants. Otto looked startled for a moment but then his expression turned to understanding and a small shadow of shame.

"I'm sorry, you're not ready for that yet. Bad judgment on my part, I apologize."

Zachary looked down at his lap and his face was flushed. He mumbled something that must have been "that's okay" and removed himself from the straddling position he had been in over Otto. He slid off the bed and looked up and smiled albeit looking embarrassed.

"I'll wait outside the door so you can get dressed. Then we can go catch my sister and get some breakfast before…well…my mom decides to eat. That would just be to tense."

Not really waiting for an answer Zachary grinned at the older man and made a quick pace out of the room and shut the door firmly behind himself.

Leaving poor Otto to berate himself for trying to make such a move on someone obviously not ready for that next step in intimacy.

End of Chapter

Yeah I know, I'm taking my grand old time. But I figured that the slashy steam would be a lot more effective if we didn't eat breakfast with little sis right after Otto nearly got into Zach's pants. Literally. Thank you for reading and Please Review!!

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	27. Change

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: Is my name Stan Lee? No, it's not. I only own you know who.

Notes: I just wrote a little one-shot that sprouted from an evil plot bunny. Go check it out. Anyway, thank you **slash addict**, **Moon Avenger**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Repto**, **Goldbryn Callow Lyte, Agent Silver**, **Pirate** **Goddess**, and last but not least**, Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon** for all reviewing.

Chapter 27

Zachary looked up and smiled when Otto walked fully dressed out of his room. There was still the tiniest bit of a blush on his face, but his smile and eyes seemed to be glowing and that helped lift the weight of guilt off of Otto's broad shoulders.

"Emily is probably still watching t.v. We can pick her up and go get the chefs to make us breakfast."

Otto smiled at his boy and nodded. He waited a moment for Zachary to lead him in the right direction and raised an eyebrow in amusement and confusion when the teen looked at the floor made as if to take a step towards him and then seemed to forget the idea. The teen repeated this little dance several times before he appeared to grow bolder and hesitantly took Otto's hand in his own.

Otto looked confused for a moment but he smiled warmly when he realized that Zachary merely wanted to hold hands. He squeezed the boy's hand in his own showing him it was okay and Zachary looked up with a grin and a fresh blush creeping across his cheeks.

They walked like that all the way to the one of many plush living rooms, where Emily was indeed drowning herself in a Justin Timberlake music video. Zachary couldn't help but cringe at his sister's taste in music.

(A/N: Not a Timberlake basher either.)

He let go of Otto's hand with a squeeze and snuck up behind the fourteen-year-old girl. He then covered her eyes with his hands while being careful to make sure his stone didn't rub into her eye. She gave a squeal and he laughed pulling his hands away.

"Emily, I want you to meet Doctor Octavius!"

She gasped in excitement and spun around to see the older man standing in the doorway with a bemused expression on his face. Otto took in the girl's naturally sweet face and her small slim body. She was the perfect example of youth. She looked right back at him with sparkling blue eyes and a bright grin spread over her face.

She stood up and walked around from the couch while keeping her eyes and smile focused on him. Otto pondered over what she might be doing and was surprised when the young girl wrapped her slim arms around his neck and hugged him warmly.

Unsure of how to react he somewhat awkwardly wrapped one arm around her in return and gave her a soft squeeze. Satisfied she pulled away and took a step back taking him in. She was amazed by just how tall he was. She barely reached his upper mid-chest. She watched the tentacles with a sense of awe and glanced over at her brother who looked excited and a little anxious. He was probably blessing his stars for making this go so well. She looked back up at Otto's face and smiled brightly.

"Welcome to the Wayne family, Dr. Octavius. Let's hope you'll stay awhile if you can put up with my dweeby brother."

There was a sound of protest coming from Zachary's direction and Emily turned to the older teen to stick out her little pink tongue. Zachary glared at the girl and launched forward catching by the waist causing her to give a squeal of laughter.

Otto watched the two siblings with a small smile. He could tell that he would get along with the young girl well. Like her brother, she had a lot of wit and was naturally charming and charismatic.

Zachary released his hold on his only sibling and turned to Otto with a pout.

"Ignore her. She's actually nothing but an air-headed valley girl."

"I am not!"

The siblings glared at each other but neither could keep a straight face for long. They dissolved in to giggles and snickers and Otto couldn't help but to shake his head at their antics. Truly there was nothing more interesting than witnessing adolescent siblings in their own environment.

Otto walked forward and wrapped an arm around both of the teens and pulled them each into a one armed hug. His grip on Zachary was naturally firmer, and his grip on Emily was obviously just joking and affectionate.

Both teens grinned and leaned into the embrace and all three began walking from the room. Otto allowed them to lead the general way while he kept an arm around each. The talk was just little chitchat and they all stopped and looked up in surprise when a door opened and Teresa Wayne walked out.

She froze when she saw her children and she felt a sudden surge of fear when she saw Octavius with his arms around **both** of her babies. She forced a smile though but her eyes kept drifting to Emily.

"Good morning. Uh…Emily could you come here sweetie? I wanted to talk to you in the study."

Her voice was tight and Emily looked from her brother and new best friend with a look that said she was uneasy.

"Sure mamma. I'll be right back guys."

She pulled herself out of Otto's embrace and followed her mother into the said study. Teresa quickly shut the door and turned to her daughter with a troubled smile.

"Emily, hunny, what do you think of Doctor Octavius?"

Emily shifted on her feet feeling like this was a test she hadn't studied for.

"He's really nice. I like him."

Teresa smiled and rubbed her hands together.

"Emily, you're a smart girl. How did you feel when he put his arm around you?"

"I felt good, because that meant he liked me."

Teresa smiled wider and nodded.

"Emily, you would tell me if he ever touched you in a way you didn't like, wouldn't you?"

Emily's mouth fell open in shock and horror. She stared at her mother as if she had just said a bad word.

"Mom! He wouldn't do that, he's a nice guy."

Teresa's smile turned to a frown and she took several steps towards her daughter and clutched the girl's slim shoulders.

"Emily listen to me! I don't trust him. For all we know he will try to…to…God Emily! He might ask you or try to get you to let him touch you. Or make you touch him. Or…or…he might try to make you…oh Emily! Can't you see? He's a bad man, he's using you poor brother as a toy for pleasure and he'll try to do it to you to! He's a predator hunny! Please stay away from him! Help me save your brother and we will make him go away so he won't ruin your lives! So he won't ruin the family!"

Teresa was near tears and staring at her daughter with an amazing amount of intensity. Emily stared at her mother open mouthed and pulled away from the woman with a glare.

"Your not afraid of him. You're afraid of change. You lost dad and your determined to not lose us too! Well, guess what mamma! Zack will be eighteen soon and that means you won't have control over him anymore. He'll be able to move away with Doctor Octavius and you won't be able to do anything because he'll be an adult. Face it mamma, Doc isn't a bad guy. You just want him to be a bad guy so you'll have an excuse!"

Emily looked at her mother with disgust and left the room and rejoined her brother and Otto. They ate breakfast together as a mother cried on the floor of her study.

End of Chapter

A little rushed but still good I think. Thank you for reading and please review! Oh, and don't forget to read and review my little one-shot, for those who aren't crazy about slash, don't worry it's a little comedy one-sided thing. Please check it out, review and review this chapter too! 

Stray-


	28. Excited

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: (-runs away with DocOck plushies-)

Notes: Yay! Thank you **Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **slash addict**, **Pirate Goddess**, **Selene**, **Agent Silver** and **Keaton the Black Jackal** for all reviewing the last chapter. The reviews always make me happy.

Extra Notes: Since I'm not updating 'Waiting Room Madness', I'm just going to thank people who review it through this story. Thank you **Agent Silver**, **elvesmagic101**, **WARLOCKAlpha**, **mythical gurl**, **anacsadder**, **Shadow Fox Forever**, **Tentacle-Enthusiast**, **DocOcksGirl31, ChibiCIRRUS** and **Selene** for all reviewing that story. I'll continue doing 'Extra Notes' if people continue reviewing that story. Toodles!

Chapter 28

Breakfast was very enjoyable though Otto couldn't seem to get used to the servants that hung around the doors looking like statues until something spilled or someone requested an item not present. Zachary had made sure to tell him that all of the servants, chefs, workers, maids, and chauffeurs had been told that an unusual guest was staying at the mansion and had been assured that he was harmless but they were not to tell anyone outside the house of his presence.

At first his children were paranoid of the two women standing quietly by the doors and it had looked as if the two women returned the feelings. But after about ten minutes had passed, everyone in the room grew used to each other. The meal was amazing and the two women (Anna and Sophia) attended to their every need with out a word spoken, but they seemed to enjoy their work, and also enjoyed doing everything they could to make the siblings and guest comfortable and happy.

Otto had been surprised when he had asked if there was any apricot jelly and Sophia had sprung to life and hurried out of the room, and then returned moments later with a small silver bowl of freshly made apricot jelly. Emily and Zachary had laughed at his surprised expression and they had assured him that he would grow used to it. Sophia had smiled briefly and pleasantly and had then hurried back to her station by the door next to Anna.

When they were all through eating Zachary turned to the two women (they looked to be in their late twenties, Anna was blond, Sophia was strawberry blond) and made a hand motion. The women then jumped away from the door and began clearing the table. Zachary then turned to his younger sibling.

"What did mamma want to talk to you about?"

Emily for a moment looked like she was in trouble and glanced quickly at Otto. The man noticed this and archived the look for future reference. But she straightened her long bangs and cleared her throat like a well-mannered young lady and smiled at her brother.

"Oh, she just wanted to ask me about the get-together she planned with Roberto for me."

Zachary looked up at her fiercely when she said this and Otto noticed the protective look in the boy's face.

"Who's Roberto?"

Emily smiled sweetly and batted her dark eyelashes clearly trying to play innocent. She looked over at Otto and winked. Turning back to Zachary she flipped her hair over her shoulder in a girlish fashion.

"Roberto is the son of one of mamma's investors. He's this really stiff and boring fifteen-year-old with no sense of humor and fancy hair. Mamma is trying to set me up with him because she thinks it will look good with the guy that's investing in her perfume line."

Otto couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's disgusted expression as she spoke of the boy. It was obvious that this was not something she was very thrilled about.

"I'm going out on a whim here, but I'm getting the impression that you don't like this suitor."

Otto propped is chin up on his hand and looked at the girl with his head lightly cocked to the side and an amused smile playing on his lips. Both Emily and Zachary paused to look at him and simultaneously thought 'He's so cute'. Emily broke out of her small trance and hissed through her teeth showing her true disgust to both men.

"I hate him! But every time I'm around him I have to play sweet and giddy and pretend to be interested. But God! All I want to do is strangle him. He talks with this voice full of no emotion and he acts like that being a boy automatically makes him better than me. He acts like that being a girl means I'm a…a…like I'm a flower. Delicate, helpless, and with out a brain."

She rolled her eyes and set her own chin on her hand with a disgusted huff. Not a happy girl.

"Sounds like an all around prick."

Zachary actually looked happier knowing that she didn't like the boy. But also looked upset the youth in question seemed so narcissistic. Older brothers, such complex creatures.

"You have no idea."

Emily squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose. A habit inherited from her late father.

Zachary checked the clock on the wall and looked back over to Otto with a sudden grin. Emily looked up and frowned but then giggled while she wondered what could possibly going through her brother's head. Zachary turned to Anna and Sophia.

"You two are dismissed."

The two women nodded and left with out a word. When they were gone for sure, Zachary turned back to the older man grinning a mile a minute.

"Doctor Octavius, would you like to see the Batcave now?"

Emily gasped and clapped her hands together excitedly. She looked over to Otto for his answer. Otto smiled and his curiosity was excited, never in a million years would he have expected to actually see the legendary Batcave.

"Zachary, was that question even necessary?"

The teenager grinned and stood up pushing his chair in. He looked at Emily and smiled.

"Do you want to come along, Sis?"

Emily stood up and Otto followed both of their examples. The young girl paused to think and put her finger to her chin in the classic thinking pose.

"No, my friend Cassie wanted to come over today, and I need to come up with a really good excuse for why she can't. I'll catch you guys later."

With a little wave she smiled and walked from the room with a flip of her black hair. Otto walked over to Zachary who was still looking after his sister and wrapped his arms around the boy when he was behind him. Zachary laughed lightly and leaned back into the embrace.

"Zachary, you have no idea how excited I am. Just the idea of the technology and resources I'm about to see blows my mind. I can't even fathom it."

Zachary grinned and lightly pulled out of the large man's embrace and began leading the man away. As he led him he began explaining.

"I'm excited too, but I'm going to explain a bit about the cave. First off, it's freakin' huge and it's divided up into sections. There's the garage, weaponry, lab, and trophy room."

Otto looked over at the younger man with a raised eyebrow and curious look.

"Trophy room?"

Zachary grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, trophy room. Every time my dad busted someone for good, or was victorious in stopping a huge scheme, he would take something and put it in the trophy room. Normally it would be the bad guys costume, or a weapon they used or just something from their lair. He may have been the most morbid superhero, but in truth he was a real show off. Loved to show off the trophy room. Always kept every thing in clean glass cases and everything was labeled. When I was younger he would take me through there and tell me the story of everything he had ever 'won'. I loved listening to him talk about the battles."

Otto noticed the far off look on the boy's face and the dazed half smile on the young man's face. The youth was looking back on the memories of those stories and was remembering the way his father would physically show how he did a certain punch or a drop kick.

Zachary shook himself out of his reverie and opened a pair of large oak doors leading Otto into a large room. The room didn't seem to have any real purpose, just was filled up and decorated generously.

Zachary led him up to a large ancient looking grandfather clock. Otto watched in wonder and his tentacles swiveled around to watch the teenager as he opened the front of the clock to reveal a dark passage way with stone carved stairs leading down into the dark.

Zachary turned to the older man with a smile and quietly with out a single word, took the older man by the hand like a child, and led him down into the darkness.

End of Chapter

I'll update again tomorrow. I'm sorry, I kept getting kicked off and let back on the computer. It slowed me down a bit. Hope you like this chapter and thank you for reading. Please review!!

Stray-


	29. Gypsy

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: (-ignores people screaming "YOU DON"T OWN OTTO!"-)

Notes: I love my new pen name! Much prettier than the old one. Thank you **Pirate Goddess**, **Femme-Mishima**, **slash addict**, **Agent Silver** and **DocOcksGirl31** for all reading and reviewing! Hmm…not as many reviews I see, huh, bet they're all busy with school. I don't have to start until Wednesday. (-cries-) I have to start my first year of High School!

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Extra Notes: Yes, people are still reviewing the other story. Yay! Anyway, thank you **hpnjdevanescence**, and **Amazon Wolf** for reviewing that story. If anybody is wondering why I'm doing this, I'm just very polite in real life. (unless somebody gets hurt, then I just laugh. Haha!)

Chapter 29

Zachary felt the older man hold his hand a bit firmer as they entered the darkness of the passage. He squeezed the hand in his own and smiled in the cool damp dark.

"Close the door behind you. Last thing we need is a maid finding this."

Zachary looked behind him and saw the silhouette of his partner and saw a small cluster of red lights light up, and there was a clicking sound as the tentacle carefully closed the hidden door behind them.

The teenager paused listening to the other man's breathing and used his free hand to feel along the cool stone wall for the light switch. He groaned at his idiocy remembering that he couldn't feel _anything_ with his left hand and had to release his hold on Otto's. He found the switch and grinned with child like triumph and flipped it up causing the lights to come to life. Retaking the other man's hand in his own he led Otto down further until they stepped into the enormous cave.

Zachary grinned to himself by the sharp intake of breath that came from the warm body behind him and turned slowly to look upon his boyfriend's awed face.

Otto was staring at the large cavern around him the way a five-year-old would look upon Disneyland. His dark glasses had slipped down for enough on his nose bridge for Zachary to see his wide staring eyes and his mouth was dropped open ever so slightly.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"

Zachary's voice was hushed and soft. As a child he had always found the cave frightening, but when he had grown older he had seen the true beauty. The stalagmites and the deep shadows mixed in a scary but magical way, and the every present bats flitting and squeaking around the ceiling added to the first thought of fear, then turning to awe as you witnessed their behavior. The sudden pits had been blocked off with small fences years ago (due to the presence of a sneaky little boy) but added to the depth and mystery. The small 'island' with the Batcar was still present though the famous vehicle was coated with a thin layer of dust. Different pathways could be seen leading off to the other sections and the enormous computer stood in its glory.

"It's more spectacular than I had imagined."

Otto's voice also came out hushed, though it was full of wondrous awe. He tore his eyes away from the sight and looked back to Zachary with eyes full of wonder.

"I can't even imagine the odds of our meeting. Who would have ever believed two individuals such as ourselves would ever find each other?"

Zachary grinned and felt his own wonder at the chances.

"No kidding, but somebody must have wanted it or it wouldn't have happened. Must be some very creative angels."

Otto smiled at the thought and reached up to stroke the teenager's hair with a soft look in his brown eyes.

"I think I know who that angel was. It's as if Rosie hand picked you herself."

Zachary visibly melted and reached up to touch the hand in his hair. His eyes showed a complex mixture of emotions and he half smiled at the man before him.

"What was she like? I've tried imagining her, but I want to know what she was really like."

Otto sighed and looked up in thought. It hurt to think of his Rosie. As hard as he tried to think of their lunches together, their private jokes, her constant encouragement…everytime he thought of her he saw her screaming in fear as that shard of glass hurtled forward taking her away from him forever as he stood unable to stop it. When he tried remembering the smell of her perfume, her watering her little potted plants, all he could see was her slumping to the ground, lifeless.

But then he looked into the cool frosty eyes of the boy in front of him, and he thought of how truly a like his two loves were. Both were gentle, witty, compassionate, and passionate. Rosie would have adored Zachary; it truly was as if she had picked him. In his mind he imagined Rosie looking down from her seat in the clouds and pointing down at the teenage boy saying 'That one is perfect, Otto will love him.'

Looking into those green orbs, he could also see the loving brown eyes of his first love.

"She was beautiful."

He heard himself say.

"And smart. Oh God, was she ever smart. She loved writing poetry and short stories. Normally I wasn't interested in those sorts of things, but I had actually used poetry to win her. Such a warm woman. But she had her sparks, that was for sure. Rosie was like…like…Rosie was a gypsy. She had such depth but she was so untamable. She loved to dance, she used to force me to get up and dance with her. She would twirl around in a swirl of skirts and jangle of earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. She really was like a gypsy. She was my gypsy, though I never tamed her. I didn't want to, she was so perfect as her dancing unpredictable self. I loved her so much, and I still do."

Otto looked down from where he had been staring at the ceiling and saw an odd look on Zachary's face. Then it hit him, he had just been gushing over a woman who was gone, going on and on about his love for her, and had completely forgotten his other love. His love who was there. Who was living breathing and just inches away from him. That was like telling the boy 'oh your nice and all, but she was my real love. Not you.'

"And you're just as precious to me. You're my gypsy boy."

He pulled the boy forward into a deep embrace. He used his body to tell the boy how much he loved him. He took the young man's face by the chin and looked him square in the eye.

"I love you."

And they kissed.

End of Chapter

Okay I have to make this quick and get off. Thank you so much for reading and please review.

Stray-


	30. We Will

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I've said it enough times already.

Notes: This is my last day of summer vacation. It's so sad. Thank you **Goldbryn Callow Lyte**, **Pirate Goddess**, **Midnight Seclusion** and **Femme-Mishima** for all reading and reviewing. This is my last day of freedom and I plan on using it well.

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Extra Notes: Thank you **Goldbryn Callow Lyte** and **Shir-ran** for reviewing my other story.

**__**

Extra Extra Notes: WARNING, I am seriously pushing PG-13 in this chapter. SLASH is of plenty in this, beware and enjoy. ;)

Chapter 30

When they pulled apart Otto was relieved and glad to see the glow in the teenager's eyes. Zachary blinked and licked his lips with a dazed waking up look on his face and cleared his throat though it came out sounding strangely high pitched.

"I love you too. But there's a difference between mine and yours."

Otto almost felt a drop in his chest. What did Zachary mean? He couldn't possibly be having second thoughts. Not after everything that had happened between them. Otto's fearful confusion showed on his face and Zachary leaned forward so that his lips just brushed the man's ear.

"The difference is, you're my first love."

Otto shuddered at the warm breath and slight brush of skin on his ear. But he felt an amazing reaction to the boy's words flood through him. But then he wondered if the youth understood what their position and the warm breath against the sensitive skin of his ear was doing to him. Mentally he slapped himself for his easily reacting male curse.

Zachary pulled back and smiled at the other man's slowly flushing face. The teen knew what was wrong and he felt embarrassed knowing he had that reaction on the older man. But then he remembered something he had wanted to ask for a while.

"Am I allowed to call you Otto now?"

The man in question blanked and laughed.

"Seeing as we are dating, I've met your family, and we are…getting more intimate. I would imagine that it would be appropriate now."

Zachary smiled and looked Otto over. He watched the tentacles for a moment and wrapped his left hand around the other man's neck pulled himself up and lightly kissed the tip of the closest tentacle. The appendage reared back in surprise and looked at Otto as if wanting to be told what to do. It then looked back to its brothers who seemed to suddenly get jealous and came forward themselves. Zachary smiled and gave each of the other ones a peck and felt Otto go stiff against him.

'Gods, he knows I feel what they do doesn't he?' The scientist squirmed a bit trying to fight down his body's want to jump the boy. He had the cool smooth yet hard stone hand wrapped around the back of his neck, he had the warm body up against his own, and he had the boy committing soft foreplay with his damn tentacles!

He wrapped his own arms around the boy's waist experimentally and was relieved when the boy didn't make any attempt to move away. His children were growing more curious about the touches and by now Zachary had reached up his human hand and was lightly stroking them like a pet snake. Otto fought down a shudder and ever so sneakily let one of his hands slip down past the waist and gave the teen a squeeze.

Zachary jumped and gave a small yelp in surprise and pulled back to smack Otto's shoulder. His face was flushed but he was smiling with laughing eyes. But to Otto's surprise the boy just shook his head, mock glared broke into a grin and returned to his tentacle petting.

Otto couldn't help but to gulp and experimentally moved his hips forward against the boy's stomach. There was no reaction and he moved forward more with a lick of his lips and rubbed against the teen, but bit down a groan when Zachary abruptly pulled out of the embrace.

Zachary stared at the older man startled by the hard bump that had just been rubbing against him. He was definite that that hadn't been keys. His face flushed and he felt very embarrassed, slightly scared, but most of all he felt guilty. He knew that this had to be torture for Otto, he was a teenage boy from crying out loud. He understood sexual frustration, but he couldn't bring him self to go _there_ yet. Let alone in the Batcave!

"I'm sorry Otto. We will, I promise you. We will, but not yet, please?"

It was the please that startled Otto. The boy thought he had to **ask** in order to say no? He couldn't possibly believe that Otto was the type to take what he wanted by force in _that _department, did he?

"Zachary, it is your God given right to say no to anything I ask of you. I would never hurt you, and I hope you know that, I'm not the type of person who would take that from someone for sexual gratification. I'm…I'm just a little frustrated, that's all. If you don't like it when I touch you that way, just tell me. If you want me to touch you that way, feel free to say so. But I won't force you into something you don't want to do. You know that, don't you?"

Zachary felt like a total ass. He was making Otto feel bad, just because he was too big of a wuss to have sex with the man. Maybe if he let the other man touch him…NO! Hadn't he just heard a word the other man had just said? Otto was willing to wait until he was ready, and he was going to tell the man when he was ready. Whenever the heck that was.

"I know Otto. I do and I love you so much. I just can't yet. I'm so sorry, but I can't yet. I know you won't hurt me, I could never believe you would. I'm…I'm just… kinda…not that comfortable yet. But we will. I swear Otto, we will."

Zachary went forward and leaned against the man's chest feeling helpless and stupid. He knew that when they did go all the way Otto would make it as awesome as possible. But not yet, and he didn't even know why.

Otto wrapped his arms around the teenager and made soothing sounds into his hair. He rubbed the young man's back and kissed the top of his head.

"It's okay gypsy boy. We can wait as long as you need to."

He pulled back and looked into the boy's eyes smiling.

"Now," he said smiling, "do you want to stay down here or go back upstairs?"

Zachary paused to inhale deeply smelling the other man. He liked the way Otto smelled. Like musk, raw cinnamon and the tiniest bit of soap and smoke.

"Let's go back upstairs. We can work on everything down here a bit later."

Otto nodded and wrapped his arm around his boy and they headed upstairs together.

End of Chapter

9th Grade starts TOMORROW. Oh well, I just found out it's only a half day. I hope that you enjoyed Otto's hard on and please review! (if somebody who knows me in real life just read that, not a word next time I see you).

Stray-


	31. Acception, Or is it?

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: Not saying it.

Notes: I know, I disappeared for a damn long time. I was **_grounded_** (heavy venomous sarcasm) for kicking a girl that seriously had it coming. (-sighs-) I'm not normally aggressive and lash out, but this girl. Grrr…I hate her. Anyway, look at all the reviews that piled up! Thank you **Femme-Mishima**, **Agent Silver**, **Repto**, **Goldbryn Callow Lyte, phendrana,** **DocOcksGirl31**, **Pirate Goddess**, **Toilet Paper Roll**, **hpnjdevanesance, Moon Avenger**, **slash addict**, **Keaton the Black Jackal** and **Seizure Squirrel** for all reviewing. Very sorry it took me so long to get back, don't worry, next time I'll refrain from kicking.

Chapter 31

The next time Teresa approached her son and **him**, she was red eyed, stiff and sporting a fake but almost hysterical smile. The two men had taken up residence in the plush living room with Zachary watching television and Octavius going through papers that had come from a fairly high quality briefcase sitting on the floor next to the couch where they both sat.

Zachary turned around curiously when he heard some one enter the room while half expecting it to be Emily, who had disappeared into her room.

He smiled at his mother and tried to forget about her first reaction to his stone flesh and simultaneously gently nudged Otto's leg with his foot. The older man had already been aware of the woman's arrival with thanks to his tentacles who were studying her with curious interest. Otto looked up and turned around himself and both he and Zachary waited for the woman to speak first.

Teresa's smile grew with an edge of crazy hysterics and finally spoke.

"Doctor Octavius," her voice came out sickeningly sweet and sounded as though she was reading from a script.

"I wanted to apologize for my hostile behavior towards you. I know I must have seemed absolutely horrible but I was in shock. I beg you to understand how this seemed to a woman who was married to a super-hero. I guess my fear and what I have heard just painted an instant picture of how to see you in my mind, and that was a cruel thing to do. I mean, look at everything you've done and are doing for Zachary! When he ran away you took care of him and are on the verge of curing his problem. I admit I'm having trouble with the idea that you're…_together_. But Zachary is almost an adult and it's his and your decision for what kind of relationship you should have. And I promise to be as supportive as I can."

Both men sat quietly in surprise. Then a great swell of joy began rising within Zachary's chest and his lips curved into a huge grin. He had never felt so happy, proud, and excited in his life. His mother had finally excepted them. It was a beautiful thought and now it was a reality.

Otto too was happy. But the little nagging in the back of his mind said to be careful. That the woman's voice was too fake, her speech too perfect, and her smile too hysterical. But he brushed it off telling himself that she was still a little upset, that she was pressured, and that she had most likely just had been very careful about what she said.

The look on Zachary's face was what shut up the little nagging entirely. The boy finally had his mother back along with her blessing. He didn't want to ruin the moment because he was too paranoid.

"Mrs. Wayne, this is…just too wonderful for words. I accept your apology fully and I promise I will be the best life partner for your son as possible. I will make him the happiest young man in the world."

The teenager in question turned his grin to the man beside him with love clearly burning in his frosty eyes. He propped his chin on his hand and cocked his head to the side in an un-realized cute gesture.

"Otto, that's not possible to do. I'm already the happiest young man in the world."

The youth then made a very bold move. He quickly leaned forward and kissed the other man's lips then pulled back and turned to his mother wondering if that had been too soon to do.

Teresa's expression didn't change. It was as if she had painted it on her face. But Zachary ignored this and believed it to be acceptance.

"Now that I look at it, you look so cute together."

The teenager beamed joyfully. The woman then turned to Otto and her expression turned to meek wondering.

"Doctor Octavius, I don't want to rush you. But when will you need me to buy that stuff you need and when will you cure Zachary?"

Otto looked down to his papers and searched for a few moments before pulling out a small sheet of regular lined paper with some strange names written on it. A tentacle approached and took the paper from its creator's hand and delivered it to the woman who took it almost mechanically.

"Those are the needed chemicals and fluids. I will be using the containment cylinder underneath the house for the procedure. As soon as you can get those, I can start the stabilization. But I think I should warn you Madam, this won't cure Zachary. It will only stop the spreading of the mutation. Any parts of him that are already changed, will remain that way for the rest of his life. But he will be alive and healthy. Whereas, with out this procedure, he would surely die before he turned eighteen. But I'm going to stop that from happening, so you have nothing to fear."

Teresa nodded along with what he said, her face very serious.

"I'll have it all either by tonight or tomorrow. I'll go take care of this now, you two just try to relax and be comfortable."

With that said the woman turned very quickly and walked stiffly from the room. As soon as she was in the hallway her expression turned to a vengeful scowl and then bounced to a sudden grin. She walked back to her study happily whislting 'My Baby Shot Me Down.'

End of Chapter

Finally done. Hate to say it folks, but we are nearing the end. Not going to say how many chapters left, but we are getting close. By the way, I was thinking that I should turn the second genre from Sci-Fi to romance. What do you think? Should I? Thank you for reading and please Review!!

Stray-


	32. Success

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I don't feel like this is necessary any more.

Notes: Cripes! I know, I'm starting to seriously suck at updating. But I found out that High School makes you really tired and by the time you're sitting in front of the computer, you're too brain wiped to _think_ that hard. We had a late start today, so I'm a bit more motored than I've been in a little while. So, thank you **Seizure Squirrel**, **Goldbryn Callow Lyte**, **Femme-Mishima**, **Toilet Paper Roll**, **Agent Silver**, **phendrana**, **slash addict**, **hpnjdevanescence**, **Pirate Goddess**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Keaton the Black Jackal**, **Moon Avenger**, **Repto**, and **anacsadder** for reading, reviewing, and putting up with this freakin' long wait for a chapter.

Extra and Happy Notes: I found an Otto Fangirl at school!!! She's a Senior and a cheerleader (of all things) and I am so happy that I met another one in person. She's not quite as crazy as us, but she came out and said, "OMG, Doc Ock was way hotter than Spider-Man in that movie!". So, YAY!! I met another one!! (-does a happy dance-)

Chapter 32

(32? When the heck did I get to chapter 32?)

Just as she had said, the needed materials were delivered around noon the next day. Otto had explained that he just needed to set everything up in the cave's lab, and that they would perform the procedure that evening.

Otto spent all of his time in the lab (which he marveled at the same way a child would if it's parent told him he could get everything he wanted in the candy store) and had convinced Zachary to stay upstairs and try to relax. Emily had been allowed to stay home from school after she had refused to leave insisting that she had to be with her brother who needed her. The two siblings remained in the small living room sitting close together, Emily trying to reassure her nervous brother.

Teresa spent most of her time doing who knows what in her study. Emily had been filled in by a very enthusiastic Zachary on how she had finally accepted Otto, but the young girl felt a grudging emotion when she wondered why their loving mother wasn't also here to comfort her son who probably needed his mother's arms now more than ever.

Zachary only nibbled at all of his meals even when Emily tried to coax him into eating. They stayed in the plush living room for all the day including meals and watched some of their favorite child-hood movies as they ate. (or attempted to eat)

Alfred had been kind enough to take meals down to Otto who worked nonstop in the lab making sure everything was installed properly and that everything was in order. The aging man was reminded of all the times he had had to do the same thing when Bruce had been alive, and after his initial fear of Otto had passed, he decided that he liked the scientist and that he would try to treat him the same as he would anyone, and not like a super villain with tentacles welded onto his back.

Otto had been very appreciative knowing that if the older man hadn't come to him with food, he never would have eaten anything that day. Rosie had always had to do the same thing when they were together. Otto would always develop 'tunnel-vision' when working and would always forget things like eating, sleeping, bathing, and making sure to drink enough water.

It felt odd being waited upon. But Alfred was very pleasant in his dignified butler way. He seemed to adjust to normally frightening and strange things quite well for a man who must be in his seventies or eighties. After the elderly man had left each time, he had gone back to work.

If this cave could tell him one thing about Bruce Wayne, it was that the man must have been purely brilliant. The man may have been a super-hero, but Otto would have given just about anything just to converse with the man about the technology that now surrounded him. This lab alone made everything Harry Osborn had paid for look like a cheap clinic.

And by the early evening, just as the world outside was growing dim and the sun was almost to the point of setting, everything was ready.

Zachary and Emily looked up at Otto when he walked into the room and saw his serious but reassuring face. Emily turned to her big brother who had grown pale and stroked his hair in loving and calming gesture that could only be made by sisters or mothers. She continued this but turned he attention to her brother's love.

"Should I come with you?"

Otto smiled softly but shook his head lightly.

"I don't think that would be a good idea. It shouldn't take that long, maybe half an hour to forty-five minutes at the most. Why don't you go inform your mother that we are beginning and she can expect a healthy and happy son soon?"

Emily pouted in concern but nodded her head and brushed some hair from her face. She looked back to Zachary who was slowly regaining the blood in his face and stroked his cheek.

"Okay, Mamma's been alone all day anyway. Come and tell us as soon as its over, kay?"

Zachary smiled at his baby sister and wondered how he could have ever believed her to be annoying. He couldn't imagine living without her stunning blue eyes looking at him or her sisterly arms around him in a sibling embrace. He reached up and wrapped his hand around her slight wrist gently, it was the left, but Emily didn't care about the smooth yet rough feeling of the warm but almost cool stone skin.

"I'll come running as soon as it's over."

He stood letting go his grasp on the young girl's wrist and walked up to Otto with an air of nervousness and loving trust. He immediately plastered himself to the older man's side and fisted the cloth on the back of the man's trench coat as if it were a security blanket.

Otto smiled warmly and wrapped an arm around the teenager's lean but broad shoulders and quietly began leading the young man away. Just as they were about to be completely out of the room, Otto looked back to the teenage girl sitting on the couch and flashed her a smile and a thumbs-up. The fourteen-year-old grinned in return and when they were gone, she got up and headed towards her mother's study.

(in the Batcave)

Zachary began removing his outer layers of clothing once they were in the lab and ready to begin. Otto started up the equipment and lowered the glass walls to the containment cylinder, which was almost identical to the one they had stolen from the OsCorp facility. Only when these walls lowered, they made a whirling sound instead of a _swoosh_.

Just like the first time, Zachary stepped up onto the center of the base in his boxers and the walls rose quickly. An oxygen mask fell and he fixed it over his mouth and nose and took several deep breaths. Otto looked up at him from the controls on the other side of the shiny glass and smiled. The scientist began pushing buttons and the main lights dimmed and the lights at the base and top of the tube lit up.

Then, the pale blue liquid began to pour in. In mere moments Zachary was suspended once again and the sedative through the oxygen did its job and put the boy to sleep.

"Please, let me succeed this time."

The words came out as a hushed whisper as Otto's hands flew over the control pad. His children watched the floating body inside the glass chamber and assured him that it would work. That it was working already and that they would be successful.

And thirty-five minutes later, they were just that.

End of Chapter

Man, took me three days to write this. I'm so tired!! Curse High School and homework to hell. Oh well, I finally finished the chapter. Now I will have to do another one. (-yawns-) But I'll wait and start that when I'm not looking or feeling like a partial zombie. It's almost the weekend, so huzzah! Thank you for reading and PLEASE REVIEW!!!

Stray-


	33. Found

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the actual Spider-Man, Marvel Comics, DC Comics characters or any mentioned name brand products, existing television shows, movies, singers and or bands or existing songs or radio stations.

Notes: I'm back!!! For a little while at least, so as long as I'm on a computer that actually works I'm going to try to finish the story. I hope nobody gave up on me seeing how long its' been since I updated. Oh well. I would like to thank **Toilet Paper Roll**, **anacsadder**, **Femme-Mishima**, **Goldbryn Callow Lyte**, **Seizure Squirrel**, **DocOcksGirl31**, **Agent Silver**, **hpnjdevanescence**, **getfuzzyfan04**, **Duel, Battle, and War**, **Moon Avenger**, **Lady Russell Holmes**, **Mithril Maiden**, **Angie King**, **Iron Yaoi Fan Jun**, and finally **hazelstarr** for all taking the time to review and read and put up with the long wait.

Chapter 33

Zachary felt like he was coming up from a deep dive with his eyes still closed. He felt heavy and chilly air seemed even colder mixed with the wetness of his skin. A strange tingling feeling much like the one you feel when a limb falls asleep coved the majority of his body. He wondered vaguely why he was wet and why he was so cold. He knew that he knew the answers to these questions but the answers didn't seem as though they wished to be found.

As he pondered these thoughts sleepily he felt a new change. A rougher dry object was being wiped across his shoulders and chest, he could feel it and then the feeling would disappear for a second but he knew it was still there. He just couldn't feel it on that particular area. It took him a moment to place the feeling and when he did he realized that it was a cloth towel being used to dry him off. Sure enough he could feel his skin becoming dryer and the cold ebbed away slightly.

The towel moved to his head and he felt himself be lifted up slightly. The cloth touched his face and the side of his head as his hair was dried. He felt it be rubbed across his neck and he noticed a smoother and much warmer sensation on the base of his neck. He knew it must be the skin on the hand of the person caring for him and he wondered blearily who it could be. The hand moved and he felt another one touch his side. It couldn't be his mother; her hands were smaller and always a bit cooler. His father maybe? But that thought vanished quickly when the memory of seeing the man lying on his parent's bed bleeding heavily came to mind. Slowly the answer dawned on him and a tsunami of memories flowed into his mind in a giant wave.

He fought to open his heavy eyelids to see the face he believed he owed his life to. When he finally managed his vision was blurry, and he still felt the odd tingle all over his body. But he managed and his vision quickly came into focus after a moment of blinking and he saw the brown eyes hiding behind the dark glasses. Zachary couldn't help but to think of the sad puppy look those eyes gave off and he felt a smile twitch at the sides of his mouth.

"Hey handsome, come here often?"

He couldn't help but to say the first quirky thing to come to mind and Otto didn't seem to mind the least. The older man gave a short bark of amused laughter and it was enough to disturb some sleeping bats resting in the cave ceiling above their heads. The small creatures gave upset squeaks and flew away in order to find a quieter perch.

The older man stroked the teenager's hair for a moment and searched the pre-adult's eyes for any signs of pain. He was terrified he may have missed something and prayed that his fears were simply that; fears.

"How do you feel? Any strange pain or burning sensations on your skin, at all?"

Zachary shook his head and took a deep breath. He still felt tired but his strength was returning to him quickly. He couldn't wait until he was strong enough to go and find his mother and Emily. He sat up a little using his elbows for leverage.

"No, all I feel is this tingly feeling all over me. It's not painful though. Other than that I'm just tired."

He shook his head a bit in an attempt to force his damp bangs from his eyes, only to succeed in making more falling into the way of his vision. Otto snorted and ruffled his young partner's hair affectionately.

"Good, that should be a normal side affect. The whole point of the procedure was to have the chemicals fuse into your body and enter through your epidermis. The tingling feeling will ebb away and it shouldn't cause any problems with your reflexes or motor functions while it is still present. Your fatigue should be tolerable enough to walk in a few minutes or so."

Zachary nodded and translated his genius companion's words in his head from genius-smartypantsese to normal English. Some times he would forget that Otto was a doctor with an estimated extremely high IQ, and when the man got scientific he would have to try to catch up with what he was saying.

He sat up all the way only to pause at a small bit of dizziness that quickly passed. Otto assisted him and sent his children to retrieve the younger man's clothes from there spot on the other side of the large room like area. They returned in mere seconds and he helped Zachary move to the edge of the examining table he had been laid on.

Even though he was still slightly damp Zachary with only a small bit of help dressed into his clothes and slid off of the table and into a standing position. The floor beneath his feet was cold but he ignored it and thanked God knowing he would be feeling it in a few months.

When he was properly dressed and had slid on his shoes dismissing his socks and simply stuffing them into his pockets, he took the older man's face and planted a kiss on his face. Otto smiled against the teenager's mouth and when they pulled apart a few moments later he smiled quirkily.

"Well, your welcome."

Zachary couldn't help but laugh at the enthusiastic pitch in the older man's voice and wrapped his arms around the older man's neck and buried his face into the clothes being worn by the one he loved. Otto sighed and wrapped his arms around his boy holding him close knowing that they couldn't ever be separated by a horrible death that no longer lingered in their future ahead of them.

They didn't speak and stayed in that close position for many minutes. The tentacles watched them hold each other and pulled away from their father's mind so that when they spoke to each other, they would not disturb the moment being shared by the couple. Even the machines understood that this moment was a precious one.

They could feel the love, relief, and countless other emotions that were wrapped abundantly inside the mind of their creator and they curled and writhed around the two humans. If anything dared disturb what was being shared, they wouldn't have hesitated to avenge what had been ruined.

When they finally pulled away from each other Zachary had to take a deep breath. It was hard for him to try to fully understand everything that had happened between him and the doctor in such a truthfully short amount of time. A lot had happened to both of them, and they were such a perfect but utterly unexpected combination. But Zachary knew that not only did he owe his life to Octavius, he owed his everything. Even before the stone rash had begun he had been on his way down. He had been drinking more often and more heavily, he had popped a few pills and been growing less and less fond of school and teachers.

His mortal life had been saved yes, but he had found something that he would have most likely fallen all the way if he hadn't found it. He had found his truth on something he was unsure of, he had found a true friend and companion, he had found a hell of a lot of tolerance, but most importantly no matter how dreadfully cheesy it sounded, he had found what he had really needed.

Love.

End of Chapter

Whew, that was a really enjoyable chapter to write. I would guess two chapters left at this point. Possibly three if I get either lazy or really in to it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I think you all know what I'm going to say next by now. Please Review!!

Stray-


	34. Truth be Told

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I do not own any licensed character(s) belonging to Marvel Comics or DC Comics. I do not own any possibly mentioned or referred to actors, singers, bands, movies, television shows, book characters or items, organizations, songs, or name brand products. I do own Zachary Wayne (Granite), Emily Wayne, Teresa Wayne, and random plug-in OC's. These characters are not to be used in other pieces of fanfiction by other authors unless my consent is given. If an author wishes to use a character of mine, they may seek me out and it will be discussed.

Notes: I'm not really going to sit back and wait for reviews to pile up. I don't think I'll get that many right now anyway due to the break and I'm sure that many of my usual readers are most likely on vacation away from their computers. I do thank **talkstoangels** for taking the time to read and review my chapter and I thank anyone who has read it but decided to not review.

Chapter 34

"Are you alright, gypsy boy?"

Otto watched as his boy smiled and nodded in response. He still marveled at the teenager's strength and wondered what on earth he would do if he were without the young man. He didn't want to think of such a thing. He had thought after he had lost his darling Rosie that he would spend the rest of his life alone with no one to keep him company other than his children. But then he had found a new love and he couldn't understand how he had ever managed without him.

"Are you ready to see your sister and mother as a healthy and safe individual, or do you want to stay down here? I'm sure we could find something to do."

He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. The young man standing before him immediately burst into a fit of laughter that lasted for a comically long amount of time. The tentacles almost mistook it for a choking fit and that alone was enough to make the scientist grin.

Zachary's face was a bright shade or red and he was gasping for breath but he was glowing and grinning all the same. Otto couldn't help but to feel quite proud of himself after that reaction. It truly did amaze him what power a few words possessed.

"I can't believe that you did that. I'm going to be remembering that when I'm thirty and in need of an upper."

Otto smiled proudly but his mind immediately presented him a thought he had considered but had forced himself not to dwell on. He knew that they had a very large age gap between them, he was totally aware of that. But what would their relationship be someday when Zachary _was_ thirty? Or forty for that matter? The boy was just barely eighteen but he himself was forty-seven. Eventually someday the boy would be a man and he would be a relic. A time would come where Zachary would lose interest in him, no longer find him to be attractive. Would their love dwindle as he grew into an old man and would his much younger companion leave him to find someone younger and more appealing? The thought was so painful to think about, but now that the threat of death was out of the way, the never leaving threat of time was still present.

Otto blinked away the water building up in his eyes and forced those horrid thoughts away. He would think of that another time, he could bring it up in a conversation and they would figure it all out together. No need to get depressed after succeeding in such an amazing scientific breakthrough and glorious occasion.

"Let's go upstairs. I want to find Emily and my mom. They are going to be so happy now that everything is alright."

Zachary was speaking quickly and energetically. He was excited and happy and he had every right in the world to be. It's like a cancer patient being told they are cured for life. Now that Otto though about in that light, he realized that was a more appropriate term to use than 'stone rash'. What it had really been was a stone cancer. And he had discovered and administered a cure for it. Maybe he could try to patent his notes. He brushed the thought away; he'd consult Zachary on that later. As the subject he would need the boy's permission and approval.

"Alright, let's go then."

Zachary smiled at him and took Otto's larger, warmer hand in his slimmer, cooler one and they walked towards the carved stone stairs hand in hand. As they climbed them Zachary could feel a growing excitement in his chest and he started to grin while looking up ahead at nothing in particular. Otto could sense the younger man's excitement and let a grin of his own slip into place on his face. Even the assistants picked up on the mood and spoke words of praise and affection in their father's mind.

On the trek back to the small plush living room Zachary was walking quickly and Otto kept a firm grip on the boy's hand and attempted to get the youth to slow down and relax. Zachary eventually complied and walked side by side with his older partner and tried to focus on the hand joined with his, the pounding of his heart beat, and the now very subtle tingling of his skin.

When they finally reached the desired room Zachary's heart had migrated up from his chest and into the approximate area of throat and somehow his ears. He couldn't understand why he was so wound up but he felt like he could start to bounce off the walls and ricochet off the ceiling at this point.

He also had to pause and remember that Emily could possibly not even be in the room. After all, Otto had sent her off to be with their mother before going down to the Batcave. She might have not returned yet or could have possibly assumed that they would meet her at Teresa's study.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Otto's large warm hand gave his a reassuring squeeze and he took a deep breath smiling. He was just so tense with excitement and couldn't wait to see the look on Emily's face when she saw him standing there and telling her the amazing news.

Emily was in the room when they walked in. She was sitting on the couch sideways with her legs drawn up to her chest. Otto recognized the position as one Zachary had often used when he was still nervous of being touched by him. The girl's position was not from fear of close contact obviously but from the worry for her older brother. The television was not showing the usual music videos full of unrealistically handsome men and barely clothed women dancing but was showing a cartoon instead. The program was not one Otto was able to place very quickly but knew he had seen once before. He realized it was a program Rosie's little niece had watched on a night the girl had stayed with them as her mother and father went out of town. He had almost completely forgotten about the girl, he vaguely remembered her name as Kimberly. Rosie had had to run to the store and he had ended up sitting on the couch with the six year old on his lap as she happily watched her program that starred brightly colored talking horses. My Little Pinto or something to that nature.

Emily looked up at them as they came in and started to speak as she rushed to stand up from her spot on the couch. Zachary released his partner's hand and ran up to his younger sibling before she could take three steps towards them.

"It worked. Otto did it and it worked." The teenager took the girls face into his hands as he said this while trying to not lose his cool in his excitement. Her mouth opened and closed several times before a shriek escaped her and she threw her arms around the older teen's neck in a crushing hug.

Otto stood back away from them smiled. The tentacles spoke to him and made comments about what they were witnessing and he explained in his mind that it was supposed to be normal for siblings to act in such away after something horribly wrong has been fixed.

"_We are siblings but we have never entwined with each other after stressful situations_."

"_This is correct. Are we supposed to father?_"

"_I must follow Two's question. Are we four supposed to 'hug'?_"

"_I feel pretty…oh so pretty…I feel charming and-_"

"**_Cease your foolish chanter Four!!_**"

Otto couldn't help but to smother a snicker at the annoyed chorus from the first three tentacles. He wondered how on earth his fourth child had turned out as such a ditz at moments, but he had to admit it was at some points refreshing. They really were like children.

He turned his attention back to the two siblings who were still locked in a tight embrace and finally went forward.

"Is your mother around Emily? I really think we should go tell the poor woman the good news."

The fourteen-year-old pulled away from her brother and absently twirled a strand of her black hair around her finger. She suddenly looked some what begrudged and this concerned Otto.

"I went to her study like you said I should do, but when I knocked on the door and asked to go in she said to go back to the sitting room. I told her that it was about the cure thing and she didn't say anything for awhile. When I knocked and asked if she was alright she said she was fine and to go wait in the sitting room. She said she would come down in a little while."

Otto frowned and Zachary looked confused. The nagging feeling that he had felt before started to scream at him and he thought back to the woman's speech about how she could handle them being a couple. He remembered the too perfect words, the frozen face, and the hysterical look to her. His feeling of worry only started to grow even more.

"How long ago was this?"

She looked around a bit agitatedly and finally her gaze landed on his eyes. He could see that she was worried but confused as well.

"Right after you guys went down."

Otto's jaws tightened and he noticed with out much interest that he was beginning to sweat. He knew that something was wrong, he just knew it. But he couldn't for the life of him figure out what on earth the woman could be up to. She surely wouldn't do anything that would hurt her son. But he had a very sure feeling she had no problem what so ever with doing something to himself. But what could a normal human woman do to a Super-Villain, Super-Genius, and rather large man like himself?

Otto was shaken from his thoughts when a worried looking Emily turned back to Zachary. Her hands had abandoned her hair and were hanging by her sides.

"Zack, do you remember when mom left for a while when we were little?"

Otto watched his young love's face turn pale and grim from the confused look he had been wearing only mere seconds before.

"Yeah, how could I forget? It's happened again hasn't it? I should've known the stress she was under would make it happen again."

Otto's eyebrows narrowed and he knew instantly that some very relevant information had not been passed to him.

"What are you two talking about?"

The two teenagers looked at each other grimly and he felt a not fold in the low pit of his stomach. The looks on both of their faces showed a combination of fear, anger, worry, shame, and stress. What on earth hadn't they told him?

"I didn't tell you because I didn't think you would need to know. I thought that they had cured her. You see, our mother suffers from a mental illness. When we were little kids she had to leave home and stay in a mental hospital for a while. When she came back she was wonderful, and she's been really good for years. The thing that had driven her over the edge all those years ago was that Emily had been kidnapped. Our father saved her obviously, but that stress had caused her to go kinda nuts even after Em came home. I think the stress from us being together has driven her over the edge again."

Otto just stared at the teens who were both trying to not look him in the face. They're expressions held shame and he could understand that the information that many people needed to be aware of, but he did think that they could have warned him before hand that he was entering the home of a madwoman.

"And, you thought this wasn't necessary information for me to know. Zachary, you could have at least given me a clue so I could have planned ahead. Now we have no idea what she may be planning against me!"

His voice rose to a shout at the end and he knew that his face showed his anger. He had thought that Zachary was an intelligent individual, looks like that assumption was being proved wrong.

But as quickly as his anger had come, it disappeared just as quickly. The startled and hurt look on his loves face was enough to calm him down. He felt ashamed and it was even worse when he noticed what looked like an actual spark of fear in the teenager's frosty eyes. Emily looked worried and slightly fearful herself, and he remembered that he was a super-villain and that he was supposed to be unpredictable. Even if they cared about him they still had a reason to be uneasy when he appeared to grow angry.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to shout at you Zachary. But I think that it is very important that we go and find your mother. We need to check up on her to be sure."

The two Wayne children nodded and tried to cover up their grim expressions. Emily nervously began fiddling with the hem of her shirt that was starting to ride up and Zachary absently tried to brush his bangs from his face.

"Well, I guess we should go find her."

Zachary said this while looking at the wall and Otto and Emily began to nod in agreement, but they both stopped mid way and turned to the doorway just behind them with looks of nervous surprise.

"That won't be necessary Zachary honey. Mommy is here and I'm going to make everything all better."

And there stood Teresa Cassada-Wayne with a devious grin and raw red eyes. The warmth in the sea foam colored orbs was gone and they seemed as dead as green marbles.

Otto felt as though he was looking into the face of evil insanity personified.

End of Chapter

Wow, I think this is my longest chapter ever. I'm surprised how Teresa changed from what I had originally planning, but she was a perfect candidate for my villain. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'm starting another one right away. Thank you for reading and Please Review!

Stray-


	35. Promise

Make Me Feel

Disclaimer: I do not own any licensed character(s) belonging to Marvel Comics or DC Comics. I do not own any possibly mentioned or referred to actors, singers, bands, movies, television shows, book characters or items, organizations, songs, or name brand products. I do own Zachary Wayne (Granite), Emily Wayne, Teresa Wayne, and random plug-in OC's. These characters are not to be used in other pieces of fanfiction by other authors unless my consent is given. If an author wishes to use a character of mine, they may seek me out and it will be discussed.

Notes: I'm not even going to wait for reviews. Thank you **weemango, Femme-Mishima, and talkstoangels** for reviewing. I'm leaving my grandparent's house tomorrow morning so I'm trying to finish the last of the story as quickly as I can without writing crappy chapters. I'm thinking that this is going to be the last chapter, and I have been very happy writing this story. I don't know if I'm going to do a sequel because doing this one was tough enough. But I will tell you that I will consider it. I hope all of my readers have enjoyed reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

**READ:** If any authors ever want to use Zachary in an Otto story, just ask me and we can work it out. I'd be interested to see what someone else would do with the relationship between them.

Chapter 35

Zachary had never felt so afraid to be around his mother. The way she spoke and the look in her eyes made him wish his father was alive. His father would have protected him from Satan himself but his father was not here. But as much as he feared his mother for himself, he feared her for Otto ten times more. He had no clue what his mother could possibly be up to but he knew, just knew, that it would do something horrible to his love and their relationship.

Emily stood frozen staring at her mother and felt fear clench tightly in her stomach. The

lack of emotion and sanity that once filled her mother's warm eyes scared her and she wished that she knew where the comforting warmth had gone. Her child instincts screamed at her to call for someone to take care of her but her rational mind told her that there was no one. He father was dead and her mother was the dangerous looking crazy woman standing in front of her.

Otto had already taken a defensive posture by reflex. He did not truly fear for himself but what would happen to Zachary if they were somehow separated. He knew he was the boy's first love, the teen had told him so, and it terrified him to think of what the teen might do if he suffered heart break at such a young age.

"You all look so unhappy to see me. Really now, I thought you were just getting ready to look for me. You said that there was something you needed to tell me, Doctor Octavius?"

Teresa smiled but it was like a smile you would see on a painting. She showed no true emotion at all and Emily actually whimpered softly at the look on her mother's face. The girl was obviously too young still to have to look into the face of her mother gone insane. Zachary's eyes didn't leave the face of the woman who had once cared for him lovingly but reached out and took his little sister's hand in his own. He would try to give what comfort that he could.

Otto stood up a bit straighter and tried to relax a bit. The situation was a tense one and he needed to think clearly and be able to react quickly to what ever the woman had planned.

"Yes, we were going to come tell you that the procedure was a success. Zachary is no longer in any danger."

The mechanical children twisted and curled around him in what appeared to be a lazy fashion, but in truth they were actually analyzing the woman in the doorway. They ran scans and checked for metal frequencies but the woman was unarmed. What in the world could she be doing if she had no weapon?

"What wonderful news Doctor! I'm so happy. But I'm afraid there is one danger that still needs to be taken care of."

Otto's eyes narrowed behind his dark glasses and his fists clenched by his sides.

"And what would that be Madam?"

Her tone and expression didn't change even slightly. It was like he was conversing with an ice sculpture.

"You. I'm afraid we need to get rid of you Doctor Octopus. You are the real threat; Zachary was a good boy before you took him. Now he's a wanted criminal and the world thinks he's a gay boy-toy.

I'm afraid I can't just sit back and watch you ruin my baby boy. Or start on your way to wrecking my little girl. I've seen how you act with her; pleasure from a young boy isn't enough so you want some action with a fourteen year old girl as well!"

Her voice was finally rising in pitch and Otto heard Emily gasp in horror at her mother's cruel accusations. The woman did not end her rant there though, she continued on using even worse words. Otto couldn't help but flinch wishing the woman would at least not say this in front of her children.

"I had tried to tell myself to be patient and understanding. I thought that being home for a little while would be enough for Zachary to come to his senses. But I believe that you must have done something monstrous to him while he was alone with you to make him so dependent on you. What did you do to him Doctor Octopus? Did you ever tie him up? I heard somewhere that's what sadists do to make their slaves so dependent on them. Did you make him touch you when he didn't want to? What have you tried with Emily so far? Have you gotten her to sit in your lap as you pet her? I bet you've done something you monster! I know what your type is like, you seem friendly and nice on the outside but underneath you're really a fiend who would sell his soul to get a fuck with a warm young body. Well, I'm afraid you targeted the wrong children for your romps Doctor.

As we speak there is a government SWAT Team and Task Force on there way to covering the whole property. They believe you came here to lay low and get your barings while taking me and my family hostage. They even know about what you've been doing with the children. Now the world will know that not only are you a murderer and crackpot scientist, but now they will know you're a sex fiend. Good luck with the death sentence Doctor, because you are a sure candidate for it."

The woman's expression finally changed and took on a look of accomplished arrogance. Otto was still stunned from the woman's horrible accusations towards him, but she had contacted the government? Why on God's Earth had he not considered that she might do that?

"Mother! How could you do this? Don't you realize that they love each other? How can you say those horrible things about Doctor Octavius after he saved Zack's life?! How could you accuse him of being a rapist? He never even touched me mom! He never even touched me! And I know he never even would have consid-"

_SMACK _

Emily's tear filled babble was silenced by the harsh slap her mother planted across her tear streaked face. The woman's expression had turned to that of mild disgust.

"Don't lie to your mother Emily. I know he's touched you, and now that I look at you, I bet you didn't fight it. I bet you just jumped into his lap like a little slut and let him have his way. I bet you enjoyed it too. I should have realized what kind of girl you were sooner. With your tight shirts you wear to get boys to ogle you with. That music you listen to, I should have known that you would turn out a natural whore."

Emily broke down into sobs as she looked into the disgusted face that was her mothers as those cruel words were targeted at her. Otto stared at the young adolescent's sweet face as she sobbed and tears ran down her red cheeks.

It was one thing for the woman to insult him for his relationship with Zachary. But to insult her own daughter in such a way because the girl was sticking up for him, that was a truly heartless thing to do.

But he remembered what the woman said about the SWAT Team and the Task Force and he realized with growing horror that he had to leave. He had leave before something bad happened.

The thought of leaving those kids with the mother from Nightmare on Elm Street was the worst thing he could do to them but he knew in his mind and even his heart that it had to be done. He was putting them in danger, and Teresa would most likely lessen up on the accusations if he was gone.

But he could come back. After everything cooled down he could come back in a year or two. Hell, he could fake a death and just go off and live with Zachary someday. They could go live on the West Coast, get a tan even. Or maybe leave the country all together. Greece would be a lovely place to live, or maybe even France. Greece would be nice seeing as his mother Mary had been full Greek and his father had been half. They could find a way.

He looked to Emily who was standing with her head bent towards the ground and her hair covering her face like a veil. Sobs were still wracking her body and he noticed where tears had hit the carpet covering the floor.

Zachary to say the least had gone into a deep state of shock. He was staring blankly at his mother and sobbing sister as though he thought they were a part of the wall. Teresa looked away from her daughter as though the poor girl was a disgusting spot on the floor and looked back to Otto himself.

"I suggest you go out and meet with the authorities. I don't want them to all come trampling into my house. Give me regards to the Devil when you go to Hell as well."

Otto looked at her and replied coolly.

"I'll let you have that privilege yourself. You are certainly just as good of a candidate for being damned as I am."

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when the woman hissed like an angry cat who been stepped on.

"But under the circumstances, I fear I will have to leave. But I am certainly not going to the authorities. Zachary, will you show me a safe way out?"

This seemed to finally snap the teen out from his frozen shock. He stared at Otto and opened his mouth several times before actually being able to speak.

"You…you're leaving me?"

"I'll explain, lets get going quickly though while I still have time."

Teresa looked as though she was going to scream and protest but Otto was surprisingly quick for his large size and grabbed Zachary by the arm and was out the door and racing for the secret door that led into the Batcave using Three and Four instead of his organic legs.

"Tell me which turns to take so we don't need to slow down."

Zachary managed to comply and they reached the grandfather clock in just less than three minutes. They opened it up and Otto ushered Zachary inside the small passageway and shut the small door behind him.

"Otto please tell me you're not leaving me. Please say that your not."

He sighed and used One to find the light switch and he managed to get Zachary to start walking down the steps. He used his hand to wipe his brown and adjusted his glasses.

"I'm not going to lie to you Zachary. I am going to leave but I promise you with every part of my being that I will come back for you. We just need to wait until everything has calmed down. I think I'll leave for a while and fake my death. After that I'll lay low and let people grow to believe I'm really gone for a year or two, then I'll come back and we will be together again."

They stepped off the stairs and Zachary turned to Otto looking like he might cry. The young man wrapped his arms around the older man's neck and buried his face into the material of his coat.

"You promise you will come back? How will I know how long to wait?"

Otto sighed and rubbed his boy's back trying to calm the boy and even reassure himself. He didn't want to leave his love after they had found each other.

"I promise. I don't know how long I will be gone but I don't want you to waste your life waiting. Remember you will need to seem normal in those years. Go to school, take over your father's company, date someone to seem as though you forgot about me. But when I do come back I will make sure to have taken precautions. I'll change my name probably."

Zachary didn't speak for many moments. He didn't know how he could date somebody if he was in love with Otto. But the older man was the genius and he could tell this was the only way.

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

Zachary pulled his face away from the cloth of his older love's coat and kissed the man on the lips. Neither of them wanted to let go, but wanted to enjoy the moment for ever. But all great things must come to an end, even if it will start again later.

They finally had to let go and a single tear ran down the cheek of both men. Neither were able to form words and Zachary had to point to a manual exit of the cave instead of speaking.

And Otto left. But his heart stayed behind beating side by side with his loves.

**5 YEARS LATER**

21 year old Zachary Wayne walked out of Wayne Industries Headquarters and adjusted his suit as his chauffer drove up. He had definitely changed from the 17 year old the public had known for quite a while as Granite. He was taller, he had reached a solid six feet and he had more muscle though he had managed to remain leaner than the typical guy. His bangs still fell into his eyes but they fell in a certain natural way that people would fight with their hair stylist to get. Along with his suit he had become famous for always wearing a classy leather glove on his left hand.

He was obviously no boy when you looked at him. He was a strong adult man with a quick wit and sharp frosty sea-foam green eyes.

He slipped into the car as the chauffer held the door open for him and sat down inside setting his brief case on the seat next to him. He was tired from the business meeting and just wanted to go home and fix himself a drink. He would probably make a few calls as well. He definitely needed to make one to his fiancée Monique about the wedding.

The drive was boring and he thought about Monique. She was a pretty African American girl he had met at a Ball a year ago and they had dated until she had asked him if he would like to get married. He had said yes without really thinking about it but he now felt guilty. He was going to marry a girl he didn't even love but he knew was crazy for him. Oh he was fond of her, but he could not feel any true deep feelings for her.

God he needed a drink.

After he had gotten back to the Manor he went to his den and fixed himself a brandy. He had had a long day and needed to try to relax. He gave Monique a call and she asked him what he thought of white roses for the wedding, he said it sounded lovely.

He had just gotten relaxed sitting in his chair with his brandy in one hand when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Alfred walked in looking very withered and elderly. The man servant had been getting more and more elderly but he still insisted on carrying the tea trays. He was a strong old guy.

"You have a guest Master Zachary. A Dr. Molina."

Zachary frowned in thought and tried to recall if he knew a Dr. Molina. He couldn't think of anybody by that name.

"Send him in Alfred."

The old man gave one nod and left the room for a few moments. Zachary feeling curious and confused set his drink on his desk and stood up so he could welcome the man properly when he came in.

But he had not been expecting who walked through that door.

He looked exactly the same albeit a bit thinner. He was wearing a newer brown coat and he had his hat on. But he had the same sunglasses on and Zachary could even see the sad puppy look of his beautiful brown eyes.

"I made you a promise, gypsy boy, and I never forget a promise."

All thoughts of marrying Monique vanished from his mind when he and his love embraced and kissed.

End of Story

YAYYY!!!!! Bust out the champagne peeps, because it's over. Well, the story is. I think I'll do an Epilogue to explain some things. But that won't be for a while I think. Thank you for reading my story and PLEASE REVIEW!! –blows party favor-

Stray-


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